Australian shares rallied 0.6 percent on Friday to reach a fresh three-week high, bolstered by shares in miners and banks as firmer metals prices and a stronger close on Wall St helped the local market break above the 4,500 level. Bellwether miner BHP Billiton Ltd added 0.5 percent. The mining giant said it was succession planning after reports the world's biggest miner was preparing for changes at the top. Rio Tinto Ltd jumped 2.8 percent.
Banks gains were headed by Westpac Banking Corp rising 1.1 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was 28.3 points higher at 4,506.0. The benchmark rose 2.1 percent for the week, the largest weekly rise since the beginning of October. Energy stocks also made gains, Santos jumped 1.9 percent while Woodside Petroleum rose 0.6 percent. Lynas Corp plunged 5.2 percent after the Australian rare earths producer said it started operations at its long-delayed $800 million Malaysia processing plant on Friday, only to learn the Malaysian high court will hear an application on February 5 next year for a judicial review of bids to permanently block the controversial rare-earths plant.
New Zealand's Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter, debuted its investment fund at nearly a 22 percent premium. Shares in the new fund opened at NZ$6.66 from the issue price of NZ$5.50, having raised NZ$525 million ($430 million) to bolster its balance sheet and fund expansion plans. It last traded at NZ$6.85. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rallied 0.8 percent or 33.3 points to 4,050.1.
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