The share market has enjoyed its best gains in nearly five months as investors wait on the next developments in the Greek debt crisis.
“Today, things did not look as bad on Greece – I think calmer heads have prevailed,” IG market strategist Stan Shamu said.
That’s really helping sentiment globally.”
A gain of about 1.9 per cent follows a sharp sell-off on the Friday before the Greek referendum, and again on Monday.
“I think today is just a little bit of redemption from that underperformance,” Mr Shamu said.
However, if there is bad news out of Greece over the next few days, the market could easily fall once again, he said.
The market is also benefiting from a lower Australian dollar, Mr Shamu said.
The leaders of Germany and France – the eurozone’s largest economies – have said they respect Greece’s vote against the terms of an international bailout, and remain open to talks to find a way to keep Greece in the 19-country eurozone.
Locally, Westpac gained $1.27, or 3.9 per cent, to $33.76 to be the best performing bank, while ANZ added 82 cents to $33.03, Commonwealth Bank lifted $1.39 to $87.69 and National Australia Bank found 74 cents to $34.21.
Gains in the resources sector were mor modest, with BHP Billiton adding 24 cents to $26.25, Rio Tinto gaining 58 cents to $51.74, though Fortescue Metals climbed seven cents, or 4.1 per cent, to $1.785.
Telstra jumped 15 cents to $6.27.
KEY FACTS
* On Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 106.4 points, or 1.94 per cent, to 5,581.4 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index gained 100.7 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 5,564 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was 91 points higher at 5,523 points, with 36,467 contracts traded.
* The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,168.30 per fine ounce, up 30 US cents on Monday’s price of $US1,168.00.
* National turnover was 1.7 billion securities worth $5.7 billion.