PERTH: The Australian sharemarket followed its US counterparts’ lead today, jumping for a third straight session as investors swept in on recently battered stocks.
The move on the local bourse followed a 4 per cent surge on Wall Street overnight on better-than-expected economic data and softening expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September, amid hopes global markets were beginning to stabilise after several sessions of extreme volatility.
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At the official 4.15pm (AEST) close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 had risen 60.5 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 5233.3, while the broader All Ordinaries had lifted 63.7 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 5242.6.
That took the bourse above the level of last Friday’s close, meaning it has now recovered all losses from falls related to Black Monday earlier this week.
Sharemarkets across Asia were also buoyed by the upbeat sentiment.
The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng index opened 3.22 per cent higher, while Shanghai stocks recovered the previous day’s losses, jumping 1.73 per cent at the start of trade. Tokyo’s Nikkei opened 1.65 per cent to the positive.
IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said the bounce in US equities had been “phenomenal”, and was driven by words from a US Federal Reserve official that “seemingly put to bed” any chance of a September start to the long-awaited official cash rate rise.
