Australian shares rise despite recession, Aussie slips

Australian shares have recovered most of yesterday's heavy losses despite Australia's economy suffering its worst contraction on record.

But the ASX 200 has fallen by 11pc since the year began, ABC News reports.

By 11:50am local time  the benchmark ASX 200 index had jumped 1.5 percent to 6,044 points.

The Australian dollar had slipped by 0.4pc to 73.4 US cents.