The Australian stock market closes up by 3.7%

Australian shares rose 3.7% on Tuesday (March 25), led by financial firms such as Macquarie Group, after an improved offer for Bear Sterns and upbeat U.S. housing data eased as worries about credit markets.

[Lucinda Chan, Division
Director of MacQuarie Equities]:
"I think you will probably see a little bit of cautious buying
coming back into the market and that's what we saw today, it will be a
short-term relief for a little while. I think the surprise numbers of the home
sales in the U.S. on Monday night also provided a bit of excitement in terms
of the risk appetite coming back into the market."
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 190.9 points to 5,318.4, based
on the latest available data, the highest closing level in nearly three weeks
and recovering from a 3.1% fall in the previous session.

Meanwhile, at Sydney's Exchange Square, small-time investors monitored
the market's progress, hoping for many more days of gains.

[David Matthew, Investor]:
"It's good to see it up but , you know, it needs to have many days
like this because there's probably people everywhere, my age and younger and older, that have suffered tremendously at the hands of the down-turn in the share market."
Fellow investor Kevin Kerley couldn't agree more. The dramatic falls on
the stock exchange have made a considerable dent in his carefully accumulated pension.

Category:

News & Politics

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• share
• market
• stocks
• S&P
• ASX