Australia: Shares end higher on tech, healthcare boost

[SYDNEY] Australian shares closed higher on Friday and booked a weekly gain, as tech stocks surged on the back of an overnight rally in US peers while a stronger dollar lifted export-reliant healthcare firms.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.13 per cent to 7,368.9 at the close of trade. It firmed 0.8 per cent for the week to notch its fifth straight weekly gain, having breached the 7,400 level for the first time on Wednesday.

"Stocks have been very resilient this week and sell-offs have been marginal ... any risk from a possible hike in rates or other sources isn't manifesting in prices at the moment," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets.

"There seems to be a tendency to rotate to other stocks instead of dumping them altogether".

Tech stocks jumped over 3 per cent, after gains in US peers drove the Nasdaq higher overnight.

Buy-now-pay-later firms Zip Co and Afterpay Ltd jumped 9.9 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

Export-dependent healthcare stocks gained more than 1 per cent as the greenback strengthened against the Australian dollar after hints of a sooner-than-expected tapering of US monetary stimulus.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended marginally higher at 12,551.9, helped by gains in consumer and healthcare stocks.

Air New Zealand fell 0.3 per cent after saying it expected losses in fiscal 2021 and 2022.

REUTERS