Australia shares eye best week since early-April; miners lead gains

  • Financials gained 0.9% with Westpac Banking Corp leading gains on the subindex.
28 May, 2021

Australian shares climbed on Friday, in line with global markets as strong US economic data solidified hopes of continuing recovery, with blue-chip miners leading the charge as iron ore rebounded.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1% to 7,163.7 points by 0025 GMT, eyeing its best weekly finish in eight. The benchmark closed flat on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei opened up 1.6% at 29017.82, and the S&P 500 E-minis futures firmed 17.5 points, or 0.4%.

Wall Street closed higher overnight after data showed that the US economy grew by 6.4% last quarter, with positive indicators from the labour market also buoying sentiment.

Major Australian miners rose 2.5% to outperform the local benchmark as iron ore prices recovered after hitting a more than six-week low as concerns over China's crackdown eased.

The world's biggest iron ore miner Rio Tinto Ltd jumped 4.8% to be among top gainers on the benchmark, while rival BHP Group advanced 2.9%.

Local energy stocks rose 1.9% as oil prices shot up 1% overnight on US economic data offsetting worries over the potential for a rise in Iranian supplies.

Sector heavyweights Whitehaven Coal Ltd vaulted 4.9%, followed by Oil Search Ltd, gaining 3.0?%.

Financials gained 0.9% with Westpac Banking Corp leading gains on the subindex.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country's biggest lender, climbed 0.8% after brokerage Jefferies lauded its progress in the tech arena and raised its price target.

Among individual stocks, shareholder registry firm Link Administration advanced 4.2% on getting an over A$3 billion ($2.32 billion) offer for its majority-owned online real estate platform PEXA.

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.03% to 12,240.

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