AlQa'dah 8, 1432, Oct 6, 2011, SPA -- Australian shares on Thursday posted their biggest one-day gain since November 2008 with a 2.6-per-cent leap as European leaders moved to protect banks from the eurozone's debt crisis, according to dpa. The market shook off a two-year low with the ASX 200 closing up 143 points, or 3.6 per cent, at 4,069 after German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined a top official of the International Monetary Fund in signalling moves to draw up plans for recapitalizing banks to try to prevent the debt crisis from turning into a banking crisis. Gold gained 22.80 US dollars an ounce to close at 1,646 US dollars. On the cross-rates, the Australian dollar gained slightly, moving up 0.0097 US cents to 0.9647 US cents.
