The Australian sharemarket rallied on Friday, led by health care companies and gold miners after weaker-than-expected United States employment data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting, boosting bullion prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 119.9 points, or 1.4%, to close at 8,844.4, with nine of the 11 sectors finishing higher.
The benchmark gained 0.9% for the week.
Healthcare led the advance on the day, with CSL rising 3.5%, Cochlear adding 3.8%, ResMed advancing 4.0% and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare climbing 2.4%.
The Materials sector also saw gains after overnight U.S. nonfarm payrolls data showed hiring slowed sharply in June, prompting investors to scale back expectations of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.
The stronger gold price drove substantial gains among local gold producers, with Northern Star Resources jumping 11.8%, Evolution Mining rising 8.8% and Newmont adding 5%.
Genesis Minerals surged 16.7% after reporting June quarter gold production of 70,767 ounces, taking total output for the 2025-26 financial year to 285,400 ounces.
Among the diversified miners, BHP gained 1.6%, while Rio Tinto edged 0.1% lower.
Fortescue fell 3.2% after Reuters reported that China's state-owned iron ore buyer had asked some domestic steel mills not to accept delivery of certain portside iron ore products supplied by the company, citing industry sources.
Financial stocks finished broadly higher. Commonwealth Bank climbed 2.4%, National Australia Bank gained 0.4%, Westpac Banking Corporation rose 0.7% and ANZ Group added 1.4%.
In company news, ASX Ltd fell 1.4% after the Federal Court ordered the market operator to pay approximately A$23 million after it admitted making misleading statements relating to its failed CHESS replacement project.
Property settlement platform PEXA plunged 21.3% after the New South Wales' Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) recommended a 20% reduction in the company's allowable revenue.
PEXA said it would seek to have any fee reductions phased in over four years.
Boss Energy gained 7.1% after confirming it had met its revised 2025-26 production guidance at its Honeymoon uranium operation.
On the bond markets, the yield on the Australian 10-year government bond fell 0.2% to 4.799%, while the two-year yield declined 1.0% to 4.458%.
