Stocks close higher after austerity vote THE Australian share market ended the last day of the financial year on a strong note after Greece passed austerity measures to avoid a default on debt. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index today closed up 78.5 points, or 1.73 per cent, at 4608 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 80 points, or 1.75 per cent, to 4659.8 points. On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was up 80 points at 4599 points, with about 37,000 contracts traded at 4.19 (AEST). It was the third straight day of gains. A positive vote in Greece on austerity measures designed to avoid the nation defaulting on its debts buoyed sentiment, EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking director Richard Morrow said. He said short-sellers closing out trades on the last day of the month also pushed the market higher. The ASX200 had fallen by more than 7.3 per cent since April 11 but the fall would have been greater if not for gains of 3.3 per cent in the past three days. "It's not a bad knee-jerk reaction to the performance of the leading global equity markets overnight and Greece coming to a temporary solution, putting that to bed for at least a day," Mr Morrow said. People on the short side of the market have done awfully well in their interest to close out trades. The healthcare and industrials sector lead the broader market higher, with health stocks up 2.09 per cent and industrials 2.42 per cent. Healthcare company CSL shot up 76 cents, or 2.35 per cent, to $33.06, and steelmaker BlueScope Steel rose 5.5 cents, or 4.78 per cent, to 120.5 cents. Making news today, Insurance Insurance Australia Group was up two cents at $3.40 after maintaining guidance of an insurance margin of between eight and 10 per cent for 2010/11. This was after it said the Christchurch earthquake would cost up to $65 million in net insurance claims. Preliminary national turnover was 2.96 billion shares worth $5.47 billion. There were 822 stocks up and 415 down, and 423 unchanged.