Australian shares higher

Australian stocks firmed 0.2 percent and notched their first weekly gain in five weeks, helped by a bounce in afternoon trade after Asian markets rose sharply and indications were for a rise in European markets. "Miners and bank stocks came back in afternoon trade with sentiment rising after offshore markets traded well or were set to open stronger," Steven Daghlian, market analyst at Commonwealth Securities said.
Financial stocks gained on hopes a fix for Europe will see their funding costs stay stable. The sector was led by No 2 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which gained 1.3 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 7.6 points to 4,508.1, according to the latest available data. The index rose 0.5 percent for the week. Top miners BHP Billiton rose 0.7 percent and Rio Tinto climbed 0.5 percent after metal prices edged up.