Australian shares closed marginally higher on Friday, helped by gains in mining and material stocks even as concerns over rising coronavirus cases kept many investors on the sidelines.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 0.4% to 6,033.60, recovering some ground after Thursday's 0.7% drop. For the week, it was up 1.5%.
Australia's Victoria state reported a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases while New South Wales said it was tightening some restrictions as authorities struggle to contain a new outbreak.
Helping investor sentiment, the Australian government on Thursday said it would inject a further A$1.5 billion ($1.05 billion) into a wage subsidy programme as the national unemployment rate hit a 22-year peak in June.
"It's (the market) sitting on a wall of worry right now," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.
"We have had such a sugar hit from all of the stimulus, we are taking a seat and wondering if we can keep going or start to fall over?"
The European Union will meet later in the day to discuss a proposed stimulus to kick-start the COVID-hit economy.
Mining stocks <.AXMM> climbed 0.8%, led by a 4.4% rise in Alumina Ltd <AWC.AX>. South32 Ltd <S32.AX> advanced 4.2%, while Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> closed 0.6% higher after touching a near six-month high earlier in the day.
Financial stocks <.AXFJ> rose 0.1%, with Westpac Banking Corp <WBC.AX> finishing 0.5% higher and National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> adding 0.2%. The gold index <.AXGD> rose 0.5%, led by a 4.6% jump in Alkane Resources Ltd <ALK.AX>, while Evolution Mining Ltd <EVN.AX> gained 2.4%
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 0.7% to 11,584.1.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand Ltd <RBD.NZ> gained 6.4%, while Property for Industry Ltd <PFI.NZ> added 4.1%.
($1 = 1.4314 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
