Australian shares rose on Friday and ended higher for the week, turning around following two straight weekly declines after a record high on Wall Street gave sentiment a boost. The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.7 percent, or 39.0 points, to 5,735.5. It was up 1.8 percent on the week, its best weekly performance in about two months. The major miners were among the gainers, along with most of the big banks. National Australia Bank bucked the trend, falling 2.7 percent as the stock traded ex-dividend.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index advanced 0.4 percent, or 22.0 points, to finish at 5,760.4. On the week, the index was up 0.4 percent. Market sentiment improved after Wall Street ended at a record high on Thursday. "Everyone is a bit more positive, it's good to see an up day given we've had such a volatile couple of weeks," said Lucinda Chan, division director at Macquarie Equities.
"Commodities are driving the market up and you're seeing some discretionary stocks doing particularly well." Retailers such as Harvey Norman have been among the best performers this week after the federal budget, unveiled on Tuesday, contained a surprise tax break to help small businesses spend more on office supplies. Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto climbed 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank fell 3.3 percent as the stock traded ex-dividend, while Westpac Bank slipped 0.5 percent. The other two were firmer. Also faring well, New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.4 percent.