Soaring gold price and bank stocks drive ASX to best streak since August

An uplift in the price of gold and rising bank stocks drove the Australian sharemarket higher on Friday, to its third straight weekly gain.

The benchmark ASX 200 jumped 105.30 points or 1.23 per cent to 8697.30, while the broader All Ordinaries added 105.80 points or 1.19 per cent to 8983.30.

The ASX 200 is now on its biggest weekly winning streak since August.

Australia’s dollar also eked out a small 0.05 per cent gain and is now buying 66.65 US cents.

On an overall strong day of trading, eight of the 11 sectors finished in the green led by materials stocks which added 2.03 per cent in a single day of trading.

Gold miners led the way as Evolution Mining leapt 4.16 per cent to $12.76, Northern Star Resourced jumped 2.86 per cent to $27.33 and Genesis Materials soared 7.64 per cent to $6.90 as the price of the commodity climbed to US $4280 ($6419).

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver says the price of safe haven assets are on the rise.

“The past week saw gold, silver and Bitcoin rise, helped by the risk asset friendly US Federal Reserve and a further fall in the $US, with silver making a new record high, possibly helped by the US adding it to its list of critical minerals,” he said.

Both gold and silver futures added more than two per cent coming into Friday’s trading.

The major banks also drove the financial sector higher as National Australia Bank hosted its annual general meeting.

National Australia Bank went up 1.81 per cent to $42.13, Westpac rose 1.41 per cent to $38.80 and Commonwealth Bank climbed 2.11 per cent to $155.96.

ANZ rose 1.19 per cent to $35.85, despite former chief executive Shayne Elliott sueing his old employer after it stripped him of a $13.5 million bonus last month.

Healthcare heavyweight CSL rebounded 2.86 per cent to $183.93 on a strong Friday to help lift the sector as a whole higher.

Sigma Healthcare also jumped 1.39 per cent to $2.92 and Pro Medicus added 0.62 per cent to $234.43.

In company news, defence ship building company Austal fell 2.96 per cent to $6.26 after treasurer Jim Chalmers allowed South Korean business Hanwha to increase its stake from 9.9 to 19.9 per cent.

This sale will come with strict conditions.

Scentre Group also closed in the green up 0.96 per cent to $4.20 after adding a new Dexus managed fund as its joint partner for a further 25 per cent stake in Brisbane Westfield Chermside shopping centre.

Myer shares continued to climb up a further 4.44 per cent to $0.47.

On Thursday, the department store giant announced a record Black Friday sales period and that billionaire retailer Solomon Lew will join the board in April.

Greatland Resources was the biggest winner up 9.89 per cent to $9.44, while Catapult Sports was the biggest laggard on Friday, down 2.98 per cent to $4.22.