Australian shares jumped nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, led by gains in financials and healthcare stocks, as a slew of Chinese data offered no nasty surprises. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.9 percent, or 44.4 points, to 4,903.1 at the close of trade. The benchmark fell 0.7 percent on Monday. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.37 percent, or 22.77 points, to finish the session at 6,124.21.
China's economy grew 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, roughly matching forecasts. Other data including industrial output and retail sales fell short of expectations. "We haven't seen a sharp selloff as one might have expected and partly this is reflective of just how oversold levels are at the moment in the market and people were just looking for a bounce," said Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG. "But I do think as we slowly digest (the Chinese data), perhaps a bit of selling might come into the market in the afternoon." Helping underpin the Australian market for now, the big four banks all rose led by a 1.1 percent gain in National Australia Bank.
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