ASX 200 soars: 9 shares you should have been watching

Local shares soared today, benefiting from the rally experienced on Wall Street overnight. Again, it was the banks doing much of the heavy lifting.

Here's a quick recap:

• S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 1.1% to 5296 points
• ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 1.1% to 5396 points
• AUD/USD at US 75.1 cents
• Iron Ore at US$55.97 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
• Gold at US$1,314.33 an ounce
• Brent oil at US$46.21 a barrel

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) was one of the best for the day, rising 1.1%, although all four banks ended the day in the black.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) also lifted 1.6%, with South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) up 1.8%.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) was a big winner today as well. Emerging from a trading halt its shares soared 4% after it announced it would acquire The Good Guys.

Coal miner Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC) also rose 7.8%, while Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) and Japara Healthcare Limited (ASX: JHC) gained 9% and 5.2%, respectively.

While the moves across the market were generally positive today, there were some which failed to gain traction. Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) was one such stock, shedding 5.2%, while BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) declined 3.5%.

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