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 1%
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 1%
- AUD/USD at US 77.63 cents
- Gold at US$1,270 an ounce, down 0.5%
- Oil at US$50.75 a barrel, up 1.5%
Leading the market higher on Friday were shares of Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), the oil and gas company, and SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK), the online jobs portal.
Santos rose 2.2% although it did not release any material news to the market. However, oil prices rose firmly overnight.
SEEK announced that it had received the $US 176 million in proceeds from its sale of Zhaopin, formerly its Asian jobs website.
Joining Santos in rising, shares of fellow energy companies Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) rose 2%.
Further down the market, shares of Pilbara Mineral Ltd (ASX: PLS) continued their stellar run, rising 9.8%. Shares in the $1.2 billion metals producer have risen 100% in a month.
Weighing on the market today were shares of energy retailers AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG), which fell 1%.
Further down, Clearview Wealth Ltd (ASX: CVW) and Spotless Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPO) fell 3.2% and 2.7%, respectively.
Here are today's top stories:
