(Reuters) - Australian shares ticked up on Friday, after a firmer finish on Wall Street, with banks leading the gains along with Link Administration Holdings and Goodman Group which rose on strong earnings.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> closed 0.2 percent higher, up 10.9 points at 6,339.2. The benchmark closed unchanged on Thursday and recorded a weekly gain of about 1 percent, its biggest since the first week of July.
U.S. stocks rebounded on Thursday with the Dow posting its biggest percentage gain in over four months.
Mirroring strength in their U.S. peers <.SPSY>, Australian banks led gains on Friday, with the financial index <.AXFJ> rising 0.3 percent to its highest since March 13.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd <ANZ.AX> was up 0.7 percent at it highest since November 2017, while National Australia Bank Ltd <NAB.AX> strengthened 0.2 percent to a three and a half month high.
Meanwhile, Goodman Group Pty Ltd <GMG.AX> surged 5.3 percent to a near ten-year high after posting a 41.1 percent jump in annual statutory profit.
Link Administration Holdings Ltd <LNK.AX> also underpinned the bullish sentiment, climbing 6.3 percent to its highest since May 8 after reporting a 67.5 percent jump in full-year net profit.
On the opposite end, weakness in Origin Energy Ltd <ORG.AX> and health care stocks kept the benchmark's gains in check.
Origin extended losses as fell 2.2 percent to a more than four-month low after underlying earnings of its energy markets business fell short of expectations.
Health care stocks were also in red, with CSL Ltd <CSL.AX> dipping 0.4 percent, while Sonic Healthcare Ltd <SHL.AX> dropped 2.6 percent.
Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 0.6 percent or 53.86 points to finish the session at 9,052.77. The benchmark posted a gain of 0.5 percent for the week.
Health care dominated the gains, with Ryman Healthcare Ltd <RYM.NZ> jumping 3.7 percent to a record high.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
