Australian shares rose for a third straight session on Friday, keeping the benchmark index on course for its best week in 13 months, as investors weighed economic consequences of the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate stance.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.3% at 7,270.50, as of 2337 GMT, with mining and energy stocks leading the advance. The benchmark has gained nearly 3% so far this week in what could be its best week since February last year.
The US central bank announced a quarter of a percentage point increase to near-zero interest rates on Wednesday and projected six more similarly sized rate hikes this year, sparking worries about the effect on economic growth.
In Australia, miners climbed 1.4% on strong iron ore prices, but were set for a second straight weekly drop weighed down by gyrating commodity prices.
Sector heavyweights Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group rose between 1% and 2.5% on Friday.
Energy stocks gained nearly 3% on surging oil prices amid fears of supply shortage in the coming weeks due to sanctions on Russia. Major oil and gas explorers Woodside Petroleum and Santos advanced 4.7% and 2.6%, respectively.
Technology stocks tracked their US peers higher. The sub-index has added 1.7% so far this week, heading for its biggest weekly gain in seven months.
ASX-listed shares of Block Inc jumped 8.7%, while WiseTech Global was up 1.3%.
On the downside, financials slipped after a three-day winning streak, but were on track for their best week since February last year. Healthcare stocks fell 0.7%, dragged down by a 0.9% drop in biotech giant CSL Ltd.
In other news, Australia’s competition watchdog said it would not pursue any action at this stage on logistics firm Qube Holdings’ acquisition of a bulk grain terminal in New South Wales. Qube’s shares were down 0.3%.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.7% to 12,079.06, and was set for its best week since early February.
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