Investors have picked themselves up and wiped themselves off with the bulls seemingly back in full force.
Following what proved to be a volatile three-week period (over which time the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) fell or rose by more than 1% on 12 out of 16 occasions), the market has managed to string together three consecutive days in the black in what has been dubbed a "Grelief rally".
It's up 41 points or 0.7% today, and 3.7% since Monday.
Australia's biggest banks are once again leading the upwards charge today as investors continue to pile their funds into the shares. One reason behind the banks' recent strength could be a sharp fall in consumer confidence levels which could certainly weigh on the Reserve Bank of Australia to lower interest rates further in the coming months.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) lifted 1.3% each, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) recorded gains of 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively.
Of Australia's other blue-chip corporations, Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) rose 1.3%, while CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) all piled on gains between 0.3% and 0.8%.
Although the gains were mostly widespread, Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY) failed to launch after it reduced its guidance for underlying earnings yesterday afternoon. The stock plunged more than 10%, wiping more than $200 million from its market value, with the damage also rubbing off on Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) which fell 4%.
With the market's optimism back on the rise, and a number of quality stocks still trading at reasonable prices, now could be an excellent time to start buying some of those companies on your long-term watchlist.
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