Australian shares closed sharply higher, extending earlier gains in the day, led by bargain hunters on the back of positive company results.
At 1615 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 110.3 points, or 2.64 per cent, at 4,282.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 108.9 points, or 2.57 per cent, at 4,3426.8
On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was up 123 points at 4,262, with 44,532 contracts traded.
Wealth Within analyst Janine Cox said the gains were the result of institutional and speculative trade following a week of panic in the markets.
"The institutionals trade with algorithms, so they'll have a lot of computer algorithms sitting there waiting to pick up the stock when they hit a certain price.
"A lot of that can cause a rebound, plus you get a lot of short-selling because of the spring back into the market," she said.
Cameron Securities client adviser Adrian Leppinus said investors were quick to pounce on positive profit results at the start of the reporting season.
Condom and glove maker Ansell gained 54 cents or 4.1 per cent to $13.68 after it announced a 2.7 per cent rise in full year profit to $122.7 million and forecast that earnings per share would rise as much as 12 per cent this financial year.
Among the miners, BHP Billiton was up $1.64, or 4.3 per cent, at $39.85 and Rio Tinto up $3.00, or 4.2 per cent, at $74.52.
Property and construction group Leighton Holdings was up $1.64, or 8.26 per cent, at $21.49 after saying it is confident of turning a $1 billion full year profit within five years after reporting on Monday a previously flagged loss of $408.8 million.
The banks were mixed, with National Australia Bank 61 cents higher at $23.57, Westpac up 70 cents at $21.17, and ANZ gaining 73 cents to $20.65.
Commonwealth Bank lost $1.18, or 2.4 per cent, to $47.38 after going ex-dividend.
The price of gold in Sydney was $US1,741 per fine ounce, down $US14.20 from Friday's local close at $US1,755.20.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining shares was down 33 cents at $40.40, even though it reported a 63 per cent lift in full year profit
Preliminary national turnover was 1.97 billion shares worth $5.63 billion, with 770 stocks up, 317 down and 315 steady.
