CANBERRA: Australian shares closed higher on Friday, with financial stocks leading gains, as investors found grounds for optimism among some of President-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.8 percent higher at 5,370.7. The index snapped four weeks of losses to rise 3.7 percent this week. Financials gained, in line with the U.S. financial sector overnight, which surged to its highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, as investors turned their focus on Trump’s likely priorities which include bank deregulation.
The “Big Four” banks were the top contributors to the main index rising between 2.6 percent and 4.2 percent. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose to its highest in nearly three months. The benchmark financials index was up about 3 percent, hitting its highest in more than two weeks. Australia’s metals & mining index rose 0.9 percent as iron ore prices rose on an optimistic outlook for Chinese steel demand, and copper edged back. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd surged 4.5 percent to hit its highest in over five years. BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd were up more than 2 percent.
