Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices finished higher on Friday.
Here's a quick recap of the Aussie market:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.5%
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.4%
- AUD/USD at US 79.40 cents
- Gold at US$1,294 an ounce, down 1.7%
- Oil at US$50.74 a barrel, up 0.1%
Leading the market higher today were shares of Suncorp Group (ASX: SUN) which rose 2.8%, although no material news was released by the company.
Amongst the major banks, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) rose 1.1%.
Further down the market, shares of NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) bounced 5% higher today following their release from a two-day trading halt.
Childcare centre owner G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) continued its recent rally, with a 4.6% gain today, following management's decision to acquire 19 new centres.
At the other end of the performance tables, gold miners like Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) came off the boil.
Here are today's top stories:
