Australia: Shares notch best week in a month as RBA boosts 2022 growth forecast

[SYDNEY] Australian shares firmed on Friday, clocking their best week in a month, as the country's central bank boosted its 2022 growth forecast and shares of Link Administration surged to over a two-month high on a buyout offer.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.4 per cent higher at 7,456.90, adding 1.8 per cent for the week. The benchmark closed up 0.5 per cent on Thursday.

In a quarterly monetary policy report, the Reserve Bank of Australia boosted economic growth projections for next year by more than a percentage point to a heady 5.5 per cent but remained dovish on the interest rate outlook.

However, analysts were far more bullish on Australia's growth prospects and envisaged RBA's conditions for tighter monetary policy would be met sooner than expected with a rate hike sometime in 2023.

Gold stocks rallied 3.6 per cent to be the biggest percentage gainers as bullion advanced on the US Federal Reserve's plan to keep interest rates steady for a while.

Top miners Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining added 6.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.

The metals and mining index added 0.7 per cent at the end of a volatile week where iron ore prices slumped considerably. The sub-index marked its third straight weekly loss.

On the day, iron ore behemoths BHP Group and Rio Tinto advanced 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

Energy stocks tripped 1.6 per cent as Woodside Petroleum lost nearly 2 per cent on slashing its reserves estimate at a project again, while weakness in coal prices hit Whitehaven Coal .

Link Administration rose 9 per cent to be the top gainer on the benchmark index, as the share registry firm said it would consider a fresh US$2.08 billion offer from private equity firm Carlyle Group.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1 per cent to finish the session at 13,074.6, with Port Of Tauranga leading gains.

REUTERS