P/ASX 200 added 0.5 per cent to add 37 points to the index, which closed with 7377.9 points. The SThe rally touched all corners of the sharemarket except the materials sector, which includes the big miners, and was led by a 3.5 per cent gain for technology shares.
The financial sector, which accounts for more than any other of the 11 sharemarket sectors making up a third of SA sting of healthy gains for the banks helped to push the sector to its highest closing level in since the middle of November after a 1 per cent advance in Wednesday’s session. The advance for the banks also comes as analysts begin to anticipate sizeable windfalls for investors through share buybacks.