Australian shares defied falls on other Asian markets to end the week with a gain.
A positive mood among investors came after better than expected quarterly earnings from US companies overnight including Ford, 3M and Microsoft.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said he thought weakness in Asia might have led to some profit taking on the local market.
“I think people have put the US debt ceiling crisis behind them and those investors not in the market don’t want to miss out and want to achieve some decent yields against the background of lower rates,” he said.
Friday’s gains capped a good week for stocks, with the All Ordinaries index gaining 1.2 per cent and trading at five year highs.
The banks made solid gains, with National Australia Bank the best performer, up 49 cents, or 1.4 per cent, at $36.08.
Commonwealth Bank gained 70 cents to $76.28, ANZ added 29 cents to $32.66, and Westpac was 18 cents higher $34.36.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton gained six cents to $37.41, Rio Tinto dropped eight cents to $63.77 and Fortescue Metals Group gave up early gains to shed nine cents to $5.21.
Whitehaven Coal added 3.5 cents to $1.77 after lifting coal sales by 26 per cent in the September quarter.
Rail and stevedore operator Asciano slumped 31 cents, or five per cent, to $5.90 after it warned earnings growth would be weaker in the 2013/14 financial year.
Warrnambool Cheese and Butter shares gained 27 cents to $8.42 after Canadian diary giant Saputo raised its takeover offer to $449 million, trumping two rival bids from local food companies.
KEY FACTS
* At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 13.4 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,386.3 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 12 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,385.7 points.
* The December share price index futures contract was up 15 points at 5,385 points, with 19,024 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 2.16 billion securities worth $5.95 billion.
