The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 1/22 : 21 August 2007 Original article by Nina Wan
LexisNexis Summary
As anticipated, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rebounded strongly on 20 August 2007. Following the strong lead of the S&P 500 Index rising 2.5 per cent on 17 August, after the US Federal Reserve reduced the bank discount rate from 6.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent, the S&P/ASX 200 index achieved its best daily gain since October 1997: a surge of 261.6 points to 5,932.6, or a 4.6 per cent improvement. Banks and mining stocks led the gains, which also mean that the benchmark index is only 7.6 per cent less than its record high of 6,422.3, compared with it being 11.7 per cent lower than the record in the week ending 17 August.
