It's been a better day for investors with the Australian sharemarket managing to regain some of its recent losses.
Late in the session, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was trending roughly 0.4% higher at 5,669 points after having hit a high of 5,689 earlier in the day. The market's gain followed on from what was a reasonable night for equity markets around the world which saw the Dow Jones and NASDAQ indices both rise 0.5%.
Indeed, it's been a painful week for investors with the market responding poorly to the Reserve Bank's interest rate cut, and to the earnings reports released by each of the Big Four banks. But it appears that some investors are taking advantage of the recent falls, having bid Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) higher. The pair are trading 0.6% and 1.2% higher, respectively, after having fallen more than 10% from their respective highs.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) has actually extended its falls, dipping a further 1.4%, but Macquarie Bank Ltd (ASX: MQG) has made up for its losses with a 5.2% gain following a very impressive earnings report. While you can read more about that here, the stock has now risen an incredible 38% since the beginning of 2015 to be trading at $80.48.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) are amongst the other big-name stocks providing some much-needed energy for the local bourse.
Unfortunately, Australia's mining and energy sectors are acting as a drag on the overall market following a night to forget for both iron ore and oil. Oil prices dipped 3.3% and iron ore fell nearly 1% which saw BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) dive 1.2%, 5.1% and 3.6%, respectively.
Although today has been a better day for the market, it's likely that some investors will still be hesitant to buy out of fear of another downturn. While it is impossible to predict what the market will do tomorrow or even next month, it is vital that investors prepare themselves for whatever headwinds may come their way.
