Australian shares fell 0.3 percent on Friday, treading cautiously into a new month as global anxiety over the US Federal Reserve's stimulus-tapering plans checked demand for riskier assets. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 14.4 points to finish the week at 5,411.1. The benchmark slipped 0.1 percent on Thursday, and rose 0.5 percent for the week to cap the fourth consecutive week of gains.
The marker recouped some of its earlier losses after a survey of manufacturing from Australia's major trading partner China showed the sector grew at the fastest pace in 18 months in October. The official Purchasing Mangers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.4 last month from September's 51.1, beating economists' consensus forecast of 51.2.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.1 percent to finish at 4,913.8. Macquarie's stock rallied 3.7 percent to A$52.83, its highest trading price since February 2010, after Australia's biggest investment bank announced a 39 percent rise in its first-half profit to A$501 million ($474.42 million). NAB rose 0.6 percent, while Westpac Banking Corp, which is due to report on Monday, added 0.5 percent. Miners were a drag on the main index, hit by a fall in copper prices overnight on concerns about growing supply and weak demand. BHP Billiton Ltd fell 0.9 percent while Rio Tinto Ltd lost 1.1 percent.
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