The Australian market rebounded yesterday as the S&P/ASX 200 Index made its biggest gains in almost a decade, following the US Federal Reserve rate cut on Friday.
Some positive earning results helped to boost the market, which saw the All Ords add 256.2 to finish at 5926.5, while the ASX/200 gained 261.6 higher at 5932.6.
Financial stocks which took a pounding last week led the way with Allco, which will report its earning figures tomorrow, jumped 23.7 per cent, while Babcock and Brown climbed 13.3 per cent.
Macquarie Bank, which has seen its share price drop from just below $100 to under $70, rose 9.3 per cent after announcing it has raised $8 billion in new funding to finance restructuring plans.
HFA Holdings forged ahead 4.4 per cent raising its full year profit forecast to $20.3 million, its third upgrade to earnings since June.
The big five banks all rose, with ANZ lifting 3.8 per cent, Westpac Banking up 4.6 per cent, NAB gaining 4.8 per cent, St George 5.9 per cent higher and Commonwealth Bank of Australia adding 1.6 per cent after going ex-dividend.
Among the insurers, QBE Insurance Group jumped around 11 per cent after reporting a 56 per cent increase in net profit, to $921 million, for the half year to June 30.
The Fed cut its discount rate by 50 basis points to 5.75 per cent on Friday, but left the key Fed funds rate remained unchanged at 5.25 per cent.
