Australia: Shares gain, set for best week in over five months

[BENGALURU] Australian shares advanced on Friday, as heavyweight miners benefited from higher commodity prices, while Link Administration topped the benchmark index on a A$2.81 billion takeover bid from US private-equity firm Carlyle.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.6 per cent at 7,471.8, as of 0014 GMT. The benchmark index was set to notch its best week since late-May.

Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures were largely flat.

Australian gold stocks jumped 3.4 per cent, underpinned by strong bullion prices as the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's indication that they were in no rush to raise interest rates raised the safe-haven metal's appeal.

Newcrest Mining jumped more than 3 per cent, its best one-day gain since June 11, while Northern Star Resources added as much as 4.2 per cent.

Broader miners rose 1 per cent, with Rio Tinto and BHP Group gaining 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

A strong overnight session on Wall Street also lifted domestic risk appetite.

Shares of Link Administration jumped as much as 12.5 per cent, on track for their best session since December 8, 2020, after the Sydney-based shareholder registry firm said it would consider Carlyle's second takeover bid.

"Everyone seems to be in a holdings pattern right now. And so the market is certainly jumping on anything like this bid for Link, because that's one of the few things that it could get a trade out of," Brad Smling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking said.

Energy stocks dipped on the back of lower oil prices, with major oil and gas explorer Woodside Petroleum shedding 1.4 per cent.

Technology stocks fell 0.7 per cent, but were still on course to post a weekly gain of more than 1.5 per cent.

Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay dropped as much as 5.1 per cent to hit its lowest since Oct 13.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.6 per cent at 13,015.83, with a2 Milk being the top gainer on the bourse.

REUTERS