Australia shares rise as PM flags quicker reopening after COVID-19 vaccine swap

Australian shares rose on Friday, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison flagged a quicker reopening after a vaccine swap deal with Britain, with heavyweight miners tracking higher iron ore prices contributing to most of the gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.5% and finished the session at 7,522.9.

Morrison announced a swap deal with Britain for 4 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, and said he was looking to convince states and territories to stick to a national COVID-19 reopening plan.

More than half the country's 25 million people are under stay-at-home orders, with Sydney, Melbourne and the national capital Canberra under prolonged lockdowns.

Investors looked through a plunge in Australian retail sales due to lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria as 'transitory', Jeffrey Halley, a market analyst at OANDA said.

Next week, the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy meeting will be in focus to see whether it will delay tapering plans, Halley said.

36 of 37 analysts polled by Reuters expect the cash rate to stay at 0.1%, but more are uncertain on whether it will delay a taper of its A$5 billion in weekly bond buying.

The mining sub-index closed 1.2% higher, after steel futures in China soared as continuing production curbs into the traditional peak demand season stoked supply concerns.

The mining triumvirate of BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals added between 0.8% and 2.5%.

Energy stocks climbed 0.8%, while the healthcare index gained 0.4%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index extended gains for a sixth day, rising 0.1% to end the session at 13,288.87.

The benchmark posted its best week since the week ended June 4, 2021.

New Zealand continued to report a drop in daily COVID-19 cases throughout the week, which authorities said was a sign that the nationwide lockdown was working.