Australian shares cut gains

Australian shares pared early gains to end barely positive on Friday, as investors booked profits from recent gains made on relief that European leaders hammered out a plan to contain the debt crisis. "This is typical of our market's underperformance and it is disappointing," said IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock.
Among the big movers on Friday, shares in Macquarie Group, Australia's top investment bank, jumped 3.3 percent after it announced a maiden share buy back worth nearly $900 million to support it sagging share price. The major banks finished mixed after having been up as much as 2 percent, with Westpac gaining 2.3 percent in morning trade but ending down 0.4 percent at A$22.68. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gained 5.1 points to 4,353.3, after earlier touching 4,417, the highest since August 3. It had rallied 2.5 percent on Thursday.