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Australian share market closes higher

Xinhua, May 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Australian share market closed higher on Tuesday.

At 4:15 p.m. (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 110.8 points, or 2.11 percent at 5,353.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 103 points, or 1.94 percent, at 5,415 points.

CMC Markets' Michael McCarthy told AAP the local bourse had powered ahead on Tuesday as investors supported the banks despite a weak earnings result from the ANZ bank.

"Even before we heard from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today, there was very good support in the market for the banks and that came as a surprise for a lot of traders, particularly after that weak ANZ result," McCarthy said.

"It's clear that the adjustment to their share price that's gone on over the last 12 months was in anticipation of exactly this sort of result, and there's clear evidence that some people see value in the banks at current levels."

At the close, ANZ gained 5.56 percent, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up 3.70 percent, the National Australia Bank rose 3.76 percent, and Westpac gained 2.34 percent.

BHP Billiton fell 0.91 percent, rival Rio Tinto was down 1.24 percent while gold miner Newcrest closed the day 0.55 percent higher.

Oil Search gained 0.28 percent, Santos was down 2.54 percent and Woodside Petroleum fell 0.38 percent.

Wesfarmers gained 1.09 percent while Woolworths was up 0.09 percent.

Qantas gained 2.79 percent while Telstra closed the day 2.36 percent higher. Endit