(Reuters) - Australian shares rose marginally on Friday, as gains for miners outweighed losses for bank stocks, but the main index still had its worst week in eight.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> closed up 0.04 percent, or 2.5 points, to 6070.10, though it lost 0.9 percent this week. On Thursday, the benchmark shed 0.5 percent.
On Friday, material stocks were lifted by iron ore supply concerns stemming from a cyclone brewing in northwest Australia.
Spot iron ore <.IO62-CNO=MB> touched its strongest level in nearly five months overnight, boosted by the possibility of a tropical cyclone off the nation's west coast choking supply.
Australia's metals and mining index <.AXMM> finished 2 pct higher at its best in nearly half a decade.
Mining heavyweight BHP <BHP.AX> rose as much as 2.6 percent, hiked to its best close since September 2014, while rival Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> advanced 1.7 percent to its highest in well over six years.
South32 Ltd <S32.AX>, the third-largest miner by market capitalisation, spiked 4 percent to a record close.
However, financials dampened market cheer, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX> and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group <ANZ.AX> shedding 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent each.
ANZ said it will not sell its vehicle finance unit - New Zealand's largest non-bank lender - to China's HNA Group after New Zealand blocked the deal over concerns about the vendor's ownership structure.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> erased earlier gains to end 0.1 percent lower at 8242.35, its worst week in over a year. Falling healthcare and consumer staples stocks offset gains in utilities and energy, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd <FPH.NZ>, the biggest weight on the index, extending losses to a fifth session.
Energy utility provider Infratil Ltd <IFT.NZ> rose 2.6 percent and helped the index the most.
New Zealand-listed shares of ANZ <ANZ.NZ> shed 0.8 percent to close at its lowest since Dec. 15 after the bank nixed its deal with HNA Group.
(Reporting by Devika Syamnath in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
