The Australian sharemarket is rallying higher today thanks to a positive lead set by international equity markets overnight, together with some strong local jobs data earlier in the day.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 42,000 new jobs were created in May which took the unemployment rate down to 6%, highlighting that the Reserve Bank's latest interest rate cut (and the May Federal Budget) may have provided a spark of life for the economy. As highlighted by the Fairfax press, analysts had expected just 15,000 new jobs to be created.
Indeed, the reliability of the ABS's numbers has been called into question on numerous occasions so the jobs data does need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the market is responding positively nonetheless. The ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) and S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) indices both rose 1.4%, with the benchmark index hitting 5,554 points, driven predominantly by the nation's biggest banks and miners.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) have all risen 1.7%, providing some relief for shareholders who have watched the stocks plummet towards bear market territory over the last couple of months, while National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) traded 1.9% higher.
Meanwhile, Australia's iron ore miners are also providing plenty of drive for the market after iron ore prices surged above US$65 a tonne overnight – the commodity's highest price in four months. BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) rose 2.4% each, while Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and BC Iron Limited (ASX: BCI) soared 4.7% and 7.1%, respectively.
Other companies that are creating value today include Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), up 1%, as well as Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), which are up 1.5% and 3.8% respectively.
Despite the market's strong gains today, it remains well below its recent high levels with some attractive companies trading at significant discounts. Investors should certainly look to take advantage of some of these incredible opportunities.
