Local shares have rebounded strongly today following an encouraging session for international equity markets overnight. The Dow Jones and NASDAQ indices rose 1.4% and 1.2% respectively, while a rise in oil prices is also helping the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) to a 1.3% gain.
While plenty of blue chip stocks have come to the party, it is the Big Four banks doing most of the heavy lifting today. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is up 1.8% at $76.12 per share, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) have risen between 0.6% and 1.1% each.
Meanwhile, Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) have each risen 1.7% and 0.8% and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) is up 0.7% at $20.24. It hit a seven-year low of just $19.81 last week.
Indeed, much of the resources sector is up today thanks to a stronger night for oil prices. Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) rose 2.3% and Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) gained 3.1%, while iron ore miner Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) rose 0.9%.
Although the market has recovered somewhat from yesterday's declines, I still believe now could be an excellent time to start loading up on some of those high-quality companies you've been watching.
Sure, there could still be more hiccups and volatility in the market, but if history is anything to go by (and in this case, it's the only thing to go by), the best time to buy shares is while there are still doubts and fears amongst investors. At 5066 points, the ASX 200 is still well below its highs from earlier this year, making now a great time to buy.
