By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 climbed added 40.7 points or 0.6% to 7,015.6 on Friday, closing at fresh 2-month highs and bringing weekly gains to 1%.
Among stocks, Materials led the advance, up 1.9% amid rising gold prices as St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) lifted 2.9%, Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) added 1.4%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) lifted 3.1% and Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) added 2.4%.
Consumer Staples added 1.3% collectively, as Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) gained 1.9%, Graincorp Ltd (ASX:GNC) added 1.5%, Coles Group Ltd (ASX:COL) gained 0.5%, Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) lifted 4.2% and Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) added 1.7%.
Meantime, Energy retreated 1.4% as Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) fell 1.3%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) lost 0.7%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) dipped 2.8% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) fell 4.5%.
Information Technology retreated 1.3% as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) lost 6.2%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell 0.2%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) dipped 7.1% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lost 1.3% while Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) popped 13.7%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.114% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.686%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 eased 0.1% to 11,728.5.