Banks boost stocks as Deutsche clouds clear

The local market has rallied amid light trade, as an easing in Deutsche Bank fears fuelled a rise on Wall Street.

Market gains are displayed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) trading board in Sydney, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

The Australian sharemarket has rebounded at the open, aided by a strong finish to the week on Wall Street as global fears around Germany’s Deutsche Bank eased.

At the 10.15am (AEDT) official market open, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rallied 35.2 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 5,471.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 34.1 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 5,559.3.

“Asian markets all look set to open higher today after news that Deutsche Bank was likely to settle with the US Department of Justice for less than half the purported fine,” IG market analyst Angus Nicholson said.

“Deutsche Bank gained 7.7 per cent on Friday off the news and was a major driver of risk-on sentiment across a range of asset classes.”

While financials led the way offshore, the energy sector also outperformed, a good sign for the local market, according to Mr Nicholson.

“A similar sectoral performance in the ASX today would be very positive for the index,” he said.

In early deals energy and financials were indeed leading the way.

The big four banks were all up around 1 per cent, with the exception of NAB, which rose just 0.4 per cent.

In energy, Santos surged 1.4 per cent to $3.66, Origin Energy added 0.6 per cent to $5.45, while Woodside bounced 0.8 per cent to $28.86 after oil prices rose 1 per cent.

In materials, gains were aided by a rise in most base metals, with BHP jumping 0.8 per cent to $22.55, Fortescue lifting 1 per cent to $5.00 and Rio Tinto bucking the trend in dipping 0.1 per cent to $51.60.

Among other blue chips, Telstra advanced 0.4 per cent to $5.20, while Qantas gained 0.8 per cent to $3.145.

Volumes were seen among their lowest for the year given a public holiday in New South Wales, ACT and South Australia.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar held steady around US76.5c, holding onto much of its gains from the latest offshore session.