Australia's share market has clutched its highest Friday close, as earnings season continues to deliver encouraging results for its large caps.
The S&P/ASX200 shaved 4.8 points, down 0.05 per cent to 9,081.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gave up 13.4 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 9,303.2.
The top-200 eased after hitting an intraday record above 9,118 on Thursday, but appeared to defend most of its gains to clinch its highest weekly close and jumping 1.8 per cent over the five sessions.
"Earnings season so far has been pretty solid,” Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda told AAP.
While there had been some pretty significant hits and misses, the areas of the market that are important for the overall indexes’ performances delivered “good enough” results.
“It creates a degree of confidence there might be slightly stronger earnings growth going forward to help justify what were relatively high valuations from a historical perspective,” Mr Rodda said.
It was a mixed bag at a sector level with six of 11 ending the day lower, led by IT stocks, retail and communications services, while utilities, real estate and energy stocks forged ahead.
The heavyweight financials sector trudged 0.7 per cent higher to a record high close, as three of the big four banks rallied but NAB traded flat as it took a breath from its post-earnings surge since Wednesday.
Commonwealth Bank shares ended the week at $179.67, their best close in seven months.
Insurance giant QBE was one of the day's success stories, rallying 7.1 per cent after its fist-half net profit surged by more than a fifth to $US2.2 billion ($A3.1 billion).
Basic materials slipped 0.7 per cent in the other direction, as iron ore giants Rio Tinto and Fortescue lost ground, while BHP carved a meagre advance.
Rio's three per cent slip came after it posted a 17 per cent slump in full-year net profit to $US10 billion ($A14.2 billion) on Thursday night.
Gold stocks were mixed but mostly lower as the precious metal eased during the session, just hovering above $US5,000 ($A7,103) an ounce.
Denver-headquartered gold miner Newmont tumbled 4.9 per cent after it posted a slip in fourth-quarter profits.
Battery minerals producers also sold off, with PLS and Liontown each shedding more than 4.5 per cent.
Energy stocks pushed higher as oil prices spiked on rising tensions between the US and Iran, helping lift Woodside 1.2 per cent to $27.43.
Santos shares slipped 0.9 per cent to $6.94 after agreeing to terms of a 10-year gas sales deal with the South Australian government.
Elsewhere in the sector, coal miners were broadly weaker and uranium stocks caught a bid, including Paladin, which jumped more than five per cent after winning environmental approval for a mine in Canada.
Consumer facing stocks were under pressure, with both cyclicals and staples fading 1.4 per cent - Inghams and Guzman y Gomez sold off sharply in the wake of earnings misses.
Health care stocks slipped lower despite strong performances from Telix Pharmaceuticals (+14.2 per cent) and Ramsay Health Care (+3.0 per cent) on the back of positive results and strategic updates.
In other news, shares in shipbuilder Austal jumped more than five per cent after securing a $4 billion contract with the Commonwealth.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.43 US cents, down from 70.54 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 fell 4.8 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 9,081.4
* The broader All Ordinaries gained 13.4 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 9,303.2
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar trades for:
* 70.43 US cents, from 70.54 US cents at 5pm AEDT on Thursday
* 109.37 Japanese yen, from 109.54 Japanese yen
* 59.92 euro cents, from 59.82 euro cents
* 52.38 British pence, from 52.23 British pence
* 118.3 NZ cents, from 119.15 NZ cents
