Australian shares firmed on Thursday, led by a rally in financials after National Australia Bank Ltd reported a 3 percent rise in first-quarter unaudited cash profit. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.24 percent or 13.900 points to close at 5,890.700. The benchmark added 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
Shares of NAB, the country's fourth-biggest bank by market value, rose 2.3 percent for its biggest percentage gain in nearly seven months. It posted unaudited cash earnings of A$1.65 billion ($1.29 billion) for the three months ended December 31.
The Australian financial index added 0.8 points, and accounted for most of the S&P/ASX 200's gains. Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 0.8 percent after saying it would close its retail banking operation in Laos to focus on institutional banking there. Rio Tinto slid nearly 1 percent despite announcing a record dividend payout for 2017 on Wednesay.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index slid 0.2 percent or 17.59 points to close at 8,177.14. Telecom stocks and industrials led the decline on the benchmark.
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