Australian shares have finished higher, bringing a four-day losing streak to an end due to good employment news from the United States.
IG market analyst Stan Shamu said gains among the big miners and banks had propelled the market into positive territory.
“It’s been a positive finish to the week, with momentum coming out of US trade and it’s been encouraging to see investors finally confident enough to get back into equities,” Mr Shamu said.
The local market finished the week around one per cent lower after making up some of the week’s losses on Friday.
Surprisingly good data on US employment showed a drop in American jobless claims for November, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest close ever, above 16,000 points.
All sectors of the local market have posted gains.
In the industrials space, engineering group Monadelphous added 58 cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $17.20 and Worley Parsons gained 1.8 per cent to $16.00 following recent losses of more than 20 per cent.
Meanwhile Seven Group gained 25 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $7.57.
Among the banks, Westpac lifted 21 cents to $32.50, ANZ gained 22 cents to $31.68, Commonwealth Bank jumped 39 cents to $76.49 and National Australia Bank was 22 cents higher at $33.92.
Among the big miners, BHP Billiton was 27 cents higher at $37.83, Rio Tinto had improved 46 cents to $65.28 and Fortescue Metals firmed three cents to $5.78.
But gold miner Newcrest lost 20 cents to $8.50 as gold fell to a four month low.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 47.6 points, or 0.9 per cent, higher at 5,335.9.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 46.0 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 5,330.3.
* The December share price index futures contract was 43 points higher at 5,344, with 20,170 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $3.4 billion.