The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) soared higher this morning, almost entirely reversing the impact of Friday's broad selloff. As at the time of writing, the market is trading 74 points or 1.4% higher at 5226 points.
The strong rise comes after a great session for US equities on Friday where the Dow Jones and NASDAQ indices rallied 2.1% each. That was despite a robust payrolls report which all but confirmed the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates when it meets this month for what will be the first time in nearly a decade.
Today's gains were mostly driven by Australia's Big Four banks, all of which rose more than 1%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) was the top performer from the group, its share price lifting 1.8%, while National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's (ASX: ANZ) shares also rose 1.7% each.
Meanwhile, the nation's biggest iron ore miners also rose strongly even though the commodity's price slipped below US$40 a tonne. BHP Billiton Limited's (ASX: BHP) share price rose 1.4%, while Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) gained 1%.
The gold miners were also shooting higher after the shiny metal's price gained 2% overnight. EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) gained 6.6% and 4.5% respectively, while Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) gained 5.9%.
Elsewhere, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) gained 1.4% each and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) shares were trading 1.2% higher.
Should you buy?
As much as investors love watching their share portfolios climb in value, they can often be put off from buying new shares on days like today based on the fact that they have risen in price.
While that might be the case, the ASX 200 is still hovering well below its highs from earlier this year. With some experts suggesting the market could finally hit the 6000-point mark late next year — nearly 15% above today's level — that suggests there are still plenty of gains left to be made.
