Market Update: On the back of a strong rebound in the US and European equity markets overnight as tensions between Russia and Ukraine eased, the S&P/ASX200...

Market Update: On the back of a strong rebound in the US and European equity markets overnight as tensions between Russia and Ukraine eased, the S&P/ASX200 rose 0.7% to 5,437 points. All the major banks were between 0.7% to 1.5% higher. Resources were mixed with BHP up 0.9% while RIO dropped 1.7% as it went ex. div. The AUD jumped almost USD 0.005 following the release of a strong than expected GDP of 2.8% for 2013 but gave back all the gains to be flat at USD 0.8955. The SPI was up 0.6% at 5,437 points on the Sydney Futures Exchange.