Australian shares rose 1.2 percent on Friday, driven by gains in resource stocks after a rise in commodities prices and encouraging US economic data, in a shortened session ahead of a four-day holiday weekend. Despite the rally going into the Christmas break, the index was still down 0.5 percent for the week and the market remains 12.7 percent lower for the year.
Trading on the Australian Stock Exchange ended early at 2 pm local time (0300 GMT), ahead of the Christmas break, although corporate announcements will continue until 0530 GMT. Shares in Gloucester Coal rose 21.6 percent, after China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd said it plans to merge its Australian unit with Gloucester in a A$700 million deal.
The big four banks all performed well in the shortened trading session, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group the best performer of the group up 1.5 percent. Shares in Australia's largest phone company, Telstra Corp Ltd, rose 0.6 percent, hitting a one-year high.
Murchison Metals rose 9 percent after settling a Federal Court case by agreeing to pay Cameleon Mining A$25 million. Cameleon shares fell 3 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 49.6 points to 4,140.4, according to latest available data. The benchmark fell 1.2 percent on Thursday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.3 percent to 3,215.5, but ended off day highs after a series of earthquakes hit the city of Christchurch, causing damage.
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