Australian, New Zealand shares advance

Australian shares closed higher on Friday in cautious trade after US President Donald Trump said trade talks with China were "moving right along", capping a see-saw week as hopes for a an agreement rose and fell.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.4% higher at 6,707.00 points. But it fell 2% on the week, its biggest weekly percentage fall since Oct. 4. The benchmark rose 1.2% on Thursday. The heavyweight financial sub-index closed 0.3% higher, though Commonwealth Bank of Australia was the only stock among the "big four" lenders to finish in positive territory.

Healthcare stocks advanced over 1%, helped by index heavyweight CSL Ltd which ended 1.2% higher, and medical technology company Avita Medical Ltd which rose 3.4% at session end. Oil and gas explorer Beach Energy rose 3.8% while Woodside Petroleum ended 0.5% higher, helping the energy sector finish the session 0.3% higher. The sub-index, however, saw its worst weekly percentage loss in over two months.

Over the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index inched up 0.2% or 18.41 points to finish the session at 11,276.20. The New Zealand benchmark clocked in a weekly loss of 0.4%, its biggest percentage fall since the five days ended Oct. 25. Electricity retailer Mercury NZ Ltd ended the day with a 3% gain, while agribusiness company Scales Corp concluded up 1.4%.