Australian stocks closed 0.4 percent lower on Friday as eurozone debt fears continued to weigh on the local market and miner BHP Billiton lost traction after announcing a $12.1 billion take-over bid for shale gas firm Petrohawk. BHP shares finished 1.6 percent lower after it swooped on Petrohawk with an all-cash offer at a 65 percent premium, marking the Anglo-Australian firm's biggest step into the booming shale-gas industry.
The deal follows a $5 billion bid for coal miner Macarthur by Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal earlier this week. Macarthur shares rose 0.7 percent on Friday to A$15.45. David Jones fell another 1.6 percent on Friday to close at A$3.15. Gold miners gained as the price of the precious metal rallied to an all-time high as investors sought safe havens, with Newcrest up 1.2 percent to A$40.27.
Shares of most major banks fell, on concerns the eurozone debt crisis would spread to Italy, with ANZ Banking Group down 0.9 percent to A$20.78. Shares in News Corp fell 2.8 percent to A$14.77 as fresh developments in the phone hacking scandal heaped more pressure on the company. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 17.242 points to 4473.5. The index fell 0.5 percent to a two-week low on Thursday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 3.173 points to 3,406.38.