Market Wrap: Banks, resources and energy companies lead the way

S&P/ASX 200 index closes up 0.2%

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published March 4, 2016 4:26 pm AEDT

The local share market has continued its strong run, rising for the fifth consecutive day, although weak leads from overseas meant only small gains for our market today.

Here's a quick recap:

S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.2% at 5,090 points
All ORDINARIES (Index: ^AORD) (ASX: XAO) up 0.2% at 5,151.1 points
AUD/USD currently at US 73.6 cents
Iron ore at US$51.20 a tonne, after falling 2.5% overnight according to Metal Bulletin
Gold at US$1,263.25 an ounce, up 1.9%
Brent crude oil gained 0.5% to US$37.12 a barrel

Global markets were flat overnight, leading to a soft start on the ASX.

The big four banks Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) all posted strong gains, with Westpac up 1.5%.

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) also had a strong trading session, closing up 2.4% and 1.6%.

But the strongest gains in the top 20 were reserved for oil and gas companies Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG), which gained 5.7% and 3.4% respectively.

Here are Friday's top stories:

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