The sharemarket closed on Friday with its third-largest weekly loss this year despite a rally in Australian iron ore and gold mining stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent, or 40.6 points, to 7789.7 – its first day in the green since Monday. Nevertheless, the index shed almost 2 per cent of its value this week. The All Ordinaries climbed 0.6 per cent. Seven of 11 sectors were higher, with utilities and miners leading the gains.

The Australian sharemarket diverged from Wall Street after the S&P 500 closed at 5521, its lowest level since September. The decline was fuelled by US President Donald Trump threatening to impose 200 per cent tariffs on wine from the European Union after the bloc set a 50 per cent levy on American whiskey.

US stock futures moved higher amid signs Washington will avoid a government shutdown following an earlier stalemate in the Senate.

Locally, the major miners tracked a rise in Singapore iron ore futures, which climbed 1.3 per cent to $US103.55. BHP gained 1.1 per cent to $38.65 and Fortescue rose 2.7 per cent to $16.27.

Gold miners rallied after the precious metal hit $US2990.02 an ounce – a fresh record – and posted its best week of gains this year. Newmont jumped 5.7 per cent to $73.43 and Regis Resources added 5.6 per cent to $3.56.

Energy stocks weighed despite oil paring an earlier loss. Woodside Energy shed 1.4 per cent to $22.38.

Stocks in focus

A2 Milk posted the biggest gain, rallying 8.8 per cent to $8.65, on news that Chinese officials are set to hold a press conference on Monday about measures to boost consumption. The company’s baby formula sales in China have soared in the past year.

Myer advanced 1.4 per cent to 75¢ after chairwoman Olivia Wirth overhauled the retailer’s executive team.

Liontown Resources rallied 4.9 per cent to 65¢ after it narrowed its losses in the half-year to December. The lithium miner is gearing up to start underground production, which stopped in the fourth quarter.

Mining services and explosives company Orica rose 4.6 per cent to $17.49 despite being listed among dozens of creditors to the entity which owned Sanjeev Gupta’s collapsed Whyalla steelworks and nearby iron ore mines.

Catalyst Metals rallied 5.2 per cent to $4.64 after initiating production at its Plutonic East site in Western Australia, extracting the first ore on time and within budget.