Australian shares have bounced back from Tuesday’s losses, thanks to a positive lead from Wall Street.
The market is more than three-quarters of a per cent higher, which partly offsets the previous session’s 1.5 per cent slide.
Morgans senior private client adviser Bill Chatterton said a rally on Wall Street, which was buoyed by better-than-expected US retail sales figures, was the main driver of the turnaround.
“Wall Street was quite a bit stronger, so we’ve followed that,” he said.
He said all major market sectors had started the session higher, with gold miners among the few to go backwards, following a slide in the gold price overnight.
“We’re looking pretty good across the board,” he said.
Among the big four banks, the Commonwealth was up 60 cents at $76.40, ANZ had gained 35 cents to $31.14, Westpac had lifted 24 cents to $31.75 and NAB was 32 cents higher at $33.89.
Iron ore miner Fortescue was among the strongest performers, gaining 19 cents to $5.34 after the company moved to pay down its debt levels early.
But gold miner Newcrest was among the weakest, down 35 cents at $8.46.
BHP Billiton lifted 16 cents to $36.30, while Rio Tinto was 96 cents higher at $64.31 but Fortescue lost two cents to $5.12. Gold miner Newcrest was eight cents higher at $8.95.
Telstra was five cents higher at $5.25.
KEY FACTS
* At 1025 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 43 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 5,255.6.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 43.1 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 5,262.9.
* The March share price index futures contract was 42 points higher at 5,216, with 9,556 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 319 million securities worth $505 million.
