Banks surge as Australian market finishes higher

The Australian market has finished higher Wednesday with mixed results across the sectors.

At the close of trade Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 29.50 basis points or 5.2 percent at 5,651.40, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 30.80 basis points or 0.54 percent at 5,703.40.

"We had a very healthy day," CMC chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Xinhua.

"The information technology sector lead the way up and of course the banks helped support the market as well."

For the last two weeks the large Australian banks have under-performed and with 25 percent of the market coming from financial institutions, it has created a drag on the index.

Despite the overall positivity, some industries struggled.

"The energy sector was down however, and that follows a really sharp drop in oil prices over the last couple of days with the market increasingly concerned about the potential increase in U.S. production levels," Spooner said.

The commonwealth Bank gained 1.03 percent, National Australia Bank lifted 0.69 percent Westpac added 0.91 percent and ANZ surged at 1.39 percent.

BHP Billiton lost 0.89 percent, Rio Tinto stocks rose 0.81 percent, Fortescue Metals was slightly higher at 0.15 percent and Newcrest slipped 0.38 percent.

Woodside Petroleum fell 0.76 percent, Santos dropped 1.29 percent and Oil Search finished the day lower at 1.29 percent.

Wesfarmers dipped 0.47 percent and Woolworths edged lower at 0.12 percent.

Qantas shares rallied at 1.50 percent, Telstra gained 0.79 percent and CSL added 0.25 percent. Endit