ASX Today Live News & Analysis

Australia's share market has edged higher but the sprint to the finish couldn't balance the week's post-earnings profit-taking and a brutal mid-week sell-off.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 44.7 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 8,871.2, on Friday, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 49.1 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 9,140.5.

The top-200 fell about one per cent for the week and is roughly 145 points short of its record close set on August 21.

On top of the bourse's $53 billion bloodbath, as bond market tremors rattled global equities, local investors were already taking money off the table after financial reporting season, Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

"The results were pretty mediocre, overall," Mr Rodda told AAP.

"We had stocks record highs, so we were sort of due for a pullback."

Nine of 11 local sectors traded higher on Friday, led by interest rate-sensitive tech stocks (+1.2 per cent), real estate plays (+1.4 per cent) and consumer discretionary shares (+1.3 per cent).

Energy stocks and the consumer discretionary segment lagged the bourse, as oil prices faded on expected OPEC+ production hikes and after the Federal Court ruled against Coles and Woolworths on underpayment action brought buy the Fair Work Commission.

Financials helped lift the bourse, but closed 0.9 per cent lower for the week, despite reclaiming most of Wednesday's losses.

All big four banks made gains on Friday, led by NAB and Westpac.

The materials sector was a mixed bag, up 0.3 per cent for the day but down 0.7 per cent since Monday as a heavy BHP countered strong performances by Rio Tinto and Fortescue.

Strength in gold miners continued, with Evolution and Newmont rallying about four per cent higher in five sessions, while Northern Star surged 5.4 per cent for the week to $19.94.

Spot gold is hovering less than 0.7 per cent from Wednesday's fresh all-time high of $US3578.59 ($A5,482) an ounce, the precious metal and safe haven's price exploding 35 per cent in 2025.

The local IT sector's strong finish was underpinned by Life360 (+3.1 per cent), data centre play NextDC (+2.8 per cent) and Technology One (+1.4 per cent), but the sector ultimately closed 3.7 per cent lower for the week.

Real estate stocks bucked the trend to close the day and week higher, as Goodman Group, Charter Hall, Mirvac and GPT posted strong finishes.

The Australian dollar held its ground to buy 65.33 US cents, up from 65.24 US cents on Thursday, as an all but baked-in September interest rate cut in the US weighed on the greenback.

Investors will be looking to key US job data overnight for hints to the likelihood and magnitude of the Federal Reserve's upcoming rates decision.

"The question is not even really if the Fed cuts in September anymore, it's how much do they cut by?" Mr Rodda said.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 44.7 points on Friday, or 0.51 per cent, to 8,871.2

The broader All Ordinaries lifted 49.1 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 9,140.5

The NZX 50 added 90.33 points (0.68%) to 13,223.53 while the Nikkei gained 438.48 points (1.02%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 43,018.75

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Aussie Broadband Limited

Coles Group Limited

Eagers Automotive Limited

Generation Development Group Limited

Objective Corporation Limited

Pacific Current Group Limited

Viva Energy Group Limited