Australia: Shares record best week in 13 months on boost from mining, energy sectors

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose for a third straight day on Friday (Mar 18) to record their best week since February last year, driven by gains in commodity sub-indexes, but investors treaded lightly as they sought more cues on the geopolitical scene.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6 per cent to 7,294.4 points at the close of trade. The benchmark gained more than 3 per cent on the week, recording its best performance in 13 months.

Market players have become more circumspect about economic growth, especially after the US Federal Reserve took a more hawkish stance and forecast 7 rate hikes for the year.

Little progress in peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv also kept investor sentiment in check.

"Despite geopolitical tensions and inflationary concerns, the surge in the benchmark can be partly attributed to diminishing concerns around the chances of Russian default after investors received foreign-debt payments," Kalkine Group chief executive officer Kunal Sawhney said.

In Australia, energy stocks led the gains, rising as much as 2.9 per cent, as crude prices rose on renewed fears of a supply crunch due to growing sanctions on Russia.

Index heavyweights such as Woodside Petroleum and Beach Energy firmed about 2.5 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Shares in miners also rose 1.8 per cent after iron ore prices climbed on easing concerns over China's Covid cases and the country's promise of a new financial stimulus to prop up its economy.

Sector majors such as Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and rival BHP Group gained in the range of 0.7 per cent and 1.7 per cent.

Gold stocks were up 0.8 per cent, but posted their first weekly loss after 6 weeks. Newcrest Mining rose as much as 0.8 per cent in the day.

Financial stocks recouped their early losses to end higher at 0.4 per cent, with banking major Macquarie Group gaining about 1.3per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose about 1.5 per cent to 12,175.9 points to finish the session. REUTERS