Australian stocks hit highest level in almost two years
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The biggest one-day gain in four months for Australian stocks has pushed them to their highest point in almost two years.
Gains for the major banks drove the S&P/ASX 200 1.3 per cent higher today to 5,821.2, in the biggest one-day jump since late November. It was the highest close since early May 2015.
That leaves the index up 2.7 per cent for 2017, lagging the S&P 500 with its 4.6 per cent gain.
Moreover, this puts the equities benchmark 1,007.5 points away from its record high hit on November 1, 2007 just as the sub-prime mortgage crisis was beginning to take hold.
Unlike other developed-world markets such as the US, Germany and most recently the UK, Australia has thus far failed in its efforts to better its pre-financial crisis peak. (Or in the case of the UK, its dotcom era zenith.)
The S&P/ASX 200 hit a post-financial crisis peak of 5,982.7 in April 2015.
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