The local share market received a shot in the arm today, experiencing one of its strongest days so far in 2016.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 2% to 5021 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 1.9% to 5083 points
- AUD/USD at US 72.31 cents
- Iron Ore at US$51.44 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold at US$1,227.63 an ounce
- Brent oil at US$36.63 a barrel
A strong rally from international share markets overnight set the stage for a strong gain locally today, and that was only boosted by better-than-expected GDP figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The banks led the upwards charge. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) was the best of the lot, surging 4.5%, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) all gained between 3.5% and 4.1%.
The miners were strong too after another solid night for commodity markets. BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shot 4.4% higher, while Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) gained 5.1% and 4.7%, respectively.
Elsewhere, Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) gained 7.8%, while Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) surged another 28.2%.
Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) didn't fare so well. Its shares lost another 17.5%, putting them on a total loss of 68.7% this week.
Here are Wednesday's top stories:
- Why the BHP Billiton Limited share price has risen 5% today
- Medibank Private Ltd wins another 5.6% increase in revenue – should you buy?
- Why the Woodside Petroleum Limited share price is soaring today
- Is Amazon a bigger threat than Aldi to Australia's supermarkets?
- Is Woolworths Limited's credit downgrade bad news for investors?
- These are the 5 worst shares on the ASX today
