(2 March 2016 – Australia) After nearly a week under the 5000 mark, the ASX broke through the crucial barrier today due to a strong rally in banking stocks and energy and with the news the growth in the domestic economy had beaten all forecasts.
GDP rose by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 3 percent year on year, well outpacing expectations of 0.4 percent over the quarter and 2.5 percent year on year.
The Big four Australian banks did most of the work with all gaining strongly.
The strong finish on the ASX was joined by a day of strong gains around Asia with Japan's Nikkei, the Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index all up.