By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - Australian shares added 43.6 points or 0.6% to 7294.4 during Friday’s trade, gaining for the third consecutive session and finishing the week 3.3% higher as rising commodity prices boosted Materials and Energy companies alike.
Higher Iron ore prices lifted heavyweight miners, as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 1.61%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 1.25%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) 2.2%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) lifted 4.06%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 3.7%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) surged 14.81%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) added 9.54%, Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) gained 9.2%, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) increased 8.28% and Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLL) gained 2.15%.
Gold miners finished higher even though prices of the precious metal dipped 0.41%. Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) 2.16%, St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 0.33%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) lifted 1.43%, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) gained 3.19%, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) added 1.27% while Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) fell 0.76%.
Oil related companies also lifted as Crude prices gained. Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) 2.68%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) added 1.89%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) gained 1.62% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) lifted 1.72%.
Financials added around 0.43% collectively with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 1.67%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) adding 0.18%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lifting 0.22%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) easing 0.08% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) up 0.13%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 2.571%, while United States 10-Year yields were around 2.178%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 1.47% to 12,176.