SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Aug 19-(Reuters) - Mixed showings among mining and bank stocks kept the Australian share market mostly flat on Friday, with investors shrugging off disappointing financial results.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was 0.16 percent, or 9 points, higher at 5,516.
Weak oil and gas prices hammered half-year profits at Australia's Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX and Santos Ltd STO.AX on Friday, but investors sent their shares higher as both companies reported progress on cost-cutting.
Woodside was trading 2 percent firmer, while Santos gave up its gains and was down 0.2 percent.
Shares in mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX , which reported a record loss on Tuesday, added 1.6 percent.
"There has a swing back from the banks, which have had a stellar rise of late, to the resources stocks, which are leading the market today," said James McGlew, head of stockbroking at Argonaut in Perth.
But the rise in mining stocks wasn't universal.
Whitehaven Coal WHC.AX dropped 13 percent after rising sharply the day before after reporting better-than-expected annual profits. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 edged higher by 3 points or 0.4 percent to 7,388.12.
The index was poised for a second weekly gain, headed for a rise of 0.2 percent.
Chicken products producer Tegel Group TGH.NZ led gains, rising 3.4 percent, after New Zealand and Australia made a deal enabling the export of raw poultry products from New Zealand to Australia.
Steel goods manufacturer Steel & Tube STU.NZ rose 1.3 percent while consumer goods retailer the Warehouse WHS.NZ was up 1.1 percent.
Tower Insurance TWR.NZ rose 0.7 percent, and dairy company A2 Milk ATM.NZ was up 0.5 percent.
Power company Mercury New Zealand lost 1.1 percent, while telecommunications company Spark SPK.NZ fell 0.6 percent.
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