Stocks up as Cyprus fears ease THE sharemarket was higher at noon as traders decided they had overreacted to Europe's debt problems yesterday and recovered some of their losses. At 12.04pm AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 37.5 points, or 0.75 per cent, at 5052.9. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 37.9 points, or 0.75 per cent, at 5065.3. Overseas markets in Europe and the US posted losses overnight but to a far smaller degree than the 2.05 per cent ASX drop that represented the heaviest one-day fall for the year. The fears related to Mediterranean island Cyprus proposing to impose a deposit tax as part of bailout plans that raised worries there would be a run on banks and the idea would spread to other countries. CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said with the benefit of hindsight the market had overshot. It's not really a robust bounce, I don't think. We're certainly still well below where we were Friday," he said. That reflects the fact that there is ongoing risk, particularly the next hurdle which will be the vote by Cypriot parliament on whether to approve these measures. The gains in Australia were broadbased, with all sectors up except defensive healthcare stocks. Among the big miners BHP Billiton was up 29c to $34.98 and Rio Tinto up 25c to $59.80. Fortescue was the strongest performer among the top 50 companies, having shot up 13c, or 3.3 per cent, to $4.02 after being punished in recent weeks. The banks were also higher, with National Australia Bank up 46c to $30.95, Westpac up 37c to $30.34, Commonwealth up 90c to $70.12 and ANZ up 21c to $28.29. The March share price index futures contract was up 48 points at 5054, with 116,871 contracts traded. National turnover was 856.5 million securities worth $1.44 billion.