Australian stocks closed firmer despite the debt impasse in the United States, and made up some of the lost ground from yesterday's sell-off.
At 1615 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 42.9 points, or 0.95 per cent, at 4573.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 42.5 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 4646.3.
On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was 31 points higher at 4544 points, on a volume of 32,867 contracts.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the local market bounced back after concerns about the debt-ceiling stalemate in the US caused a widespread sell-off yesterday.
The All Ordinaries index slumped 1.5 per cent on Monday following the failure of US politicians to broker a resolution to the country's debt issues.
US President Barack Obama today said the nation was growing dangerously close to default, but appeared no closer to reaching a compromise with Republicans in Congress.
The US will run out of ability to borrow money and pay its bills after August 2, if a deal is not reached to extend the nation's debt limit.
"Initially, there was a sell-off around (Republican House Speaker) John Boehner's response to the speech from Obama as markets were looking for a solution," Mr McCarthy said.
"We didn't get that today, but then I think it dawned on us that we'd made an over-adjustment yesterday."
In local trade, banks and financials had a strong day, with Commonwealth Bank the biggest gainer, up 68 cents, or 1.37 per cent, at $50.22.
National Australia Bank was up 19 cents, or 0.77 per cent, at $24.82, ANZ rose 24 cents, or 1.13 per cent, to $21.55, and Westpac added 10 cents to $21.36.
The big miners closed in good shape, too, with BHP Billiton up 46 cents at $43.52, despite the federal court ruling that a non-union collective agreement covering workers in its Pilbara operations was invalid.
Rio Tinto was up 93 cents at $82.99.
Energy stocks also performed well. Oil Search shares were up 18 cents, or 2.67 per cent, at $6.91, after it announced second quarter operating revenues jumped 42 per cent.
Woodside Petroleum rose 63 cents, or 1.62 per cent, to $39.48, while Origin Energy added 26 cents, or 1.74 per cent, to $15.22.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1614.70 per ounce, down $US2.87 from Monday's local close of $US1,617.57 per ounce.
Newcrest Mining dropped 17 cents, or 0.42 per cent, to $40.18 at close.
Retailers closed weaker, with Coles owner Wesfarmers down 20 cents, at 30.22 and Woolworths falling two cents to $27.40.
Telstra eased one cent to $3.03.
Preliminary national turnover was 2.08 billion shares worth $4.84 billion, with 649 shares up, 425 down, and 357 were steady.
