Market eases but holds gains
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At the close of trade the ASX 200 was up 3.7 per cent. (Getty Images: Sergio Dionisio, file photo)
The Australian share market has eased back on closing, but has held on to its gains especially in the resources and banking sectors.
The early jump in the local market - on the back of the biggest one-day rise on Wall Street - has weakened but not enough to drive the major indices into the red.
At the close of trade the ASX 200 was up 154 points or 3.7 per cent to 4,335 and the All Ordinaries closed at 4,311 up 169 points.
The National Australia Bank was the best of the big four banks, up more than 7 per cent.
The Commonwealth Bank ended up 5.5 per cent after announcing it will cut its fixed home loan interest rate by as much as 1.55 per cent.
Woodside Petroleum recorded a 10 per cent gain, while miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton had gains of 5 and 3 per cent respectively.
At 5:00pm AEDT Australian dollar was buying about 71 US cents.
Markets across Asia have also ended the day higher and the region's largest exchange in Tokyo has had the most dramatic turnaround.
It is the biggest ever one-day gain on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The market closed up more than 14 per cent, after dramatic selloffs last week cut nearly a quarter of the value of the Nikkei index.
Today was Japan's first trading day after a public holiday long weekend, and Tokyo investors appear buoyed by coordinated help for the world's banking system, in particular the decision by the US Treasury to take direct stakes in American banks.
Other regional markets finished the day up, with South Korea's KOSPI index improving 6 per cent on yesterday's close.
