The Australian Infantry Honor Guard ride into the city of Beersheva, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba in southern Israel. Uriel Sinai/Getty Images Australia’s big four banks led a huge rally on the Australian market.
At one stage the ANZ bank was up almost 6%. At the close, it was 4.47% higher at $24.10.
The NAB was up 3.5% to $25.55, Westpac 4.1% to $30.69 and the Commonwealth 3.5% to $74.36.
The banks accounted for about half the gains on the local market. The ASX 2000 closed at 5,021.20, up 98.95 points or 2.01%.
Financial stocks as a group were up almost 3%.
Local investors were buoyed by a stronger Wall Street where the S&P 500 closed up 2% overnight, led by financial and tech stocks. The automotive sector also rallied on US car sales hitting 15-year highs in February.
They also took heart from official GDP numbers showing the Australian economy is growing faster than thought.
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