Australian shares rise on miners, energy boost

Australian shares rose on Friday, boosted by energy and mining stocks, with sentiment aided by a strong finish on Wall Street overnight.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.4% by 0044 GMT. For the week so far, it is up 0.3%.

Miners added 1%, a day after dropping nearly 3%, as it benefited from a rise in Chinese ironore futures. Global miner Rio Tinto jumped 2.3% and Orocobre Ltd advanced 4.8%.

World's largest miner BHP Group Ltd, which tumbled nearly 7% on Thursday on ex-dividend trade, added more than 1%.

Energy stocks rose as much as 1.8% to hit a two-and-a-half-week high, underpinned by a rise in oil prices.

Major oil and gas explorer Santos and Woodside Petroleum gained 2% and 1.8%, respectively.

Supporting the jump in markets, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out record finishes on Wall Street as higher commodity prices aided energy stocks and the latest jobs data left investors unfazed about existing positions.

The heavyweight financials sub-index traded largely unchanged. Healthcare stocks added 1%, propelled by regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Ltd and laboratory services provider Sonic Healthcare.

Mesoblast has, however, sunk nearly 16% this week, after the company reported a wider loss.

Sector heavyweight CSL Ltd added as much as 0.9%.

Earlier this week, the state of Victoria joined New South Wales in abandoning a COVID-19-zero target, with both states now targeting rapid vaccinations after failing to quell an outbreak of the Delta variant, even after a weeks-long lockdown.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.1% to snap a five-day winning streak. The benchmark, however, eyed its best week since early-June. SKY Network television was the top gainer on the index.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.44% and S&P 500 E-minis futures were largely unchanged.