ASX200 rallies on China data & Greece unwind

The local share market has sharply outperformed its regional peers today, firming over 1% to close at 5636.

There were various factors at play:

The enduring calamity in Greece appears to be finally fizzing out, as Tsipras returned home with the unenviable task of selling the agreed terms to his parliament, thereby sealing the deal. Whether or not there is a final twist in this saga remains to be seen. However, the relative calm in markets suggests it may be curtains, and this is luring buyers back to the fold.

There’s also the China factor. Today’s data releases, quarterly GDP and yearly Industrial Production, bettered expectations and in turn eased concerns over a softening outlook. While it might be premature to definitively call a bottom, the figures were encouraging and added to the prevailing positive sentiment of the session.

Perhaps surprisingly, the China figures did little to inspire the materials sector, which is was slowed by BHP. The world’s biggest miner is one of the few stocks in red today, after announcing write downs of its US shale assets. FMG was also weaker, while RIO was flat.

Elsewhere, gains were widespread. The Energy sector was the standout, despite the impending Iran deal, and concerns of oil oversupply. Financials, Industrials and Consumer Staples all closed sharply higher.

The Aussie dollar rallied hard on the back of the China data beat, before paring gains to be trading around 0.7460 US cents.