Stocks close in the black

The local market has been boosted by energy and materials, despite lacklustre Chinese data.

The Australian sharemarket drifted from its peak on Friday but still managed to end a two-session losing run after rising oil prices pushed Wall Street sharply higher.

At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lifted 22.9 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 5,530.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index rebounded 26.9 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 5,626.3.

The moves left the market up 0.6 per cent on the week, its first gain in three.

The market traded up as much as 0.7 per cent in early deals on the back of fresh record highs in the US but faded through the day as Chinese retail and industrial data disappointed against expectations.

Despite the lacklustre numbers out of China, the resources sector took its turn as market leader after most commodity prices lifted in the offshore session.

By the end of the local trading day, the materials sector was up 1.4 per cent, while energy rose 1.7 per cent.

The two subsectors outshone all others, with telecommunications and utilities the laggards after investors shunned both Telstra and AGL for a second day.

Telstra stumbled 1.1 per cent to $5.45, while AGL gave back 1.3 per cent to $19.05.

The two companies lost 1.2 and 3.8 per cent, respectively, in the prior session as investors examined their full-year reports.

In contrast, the energy sector recouped losses from the prior session after crude prices surged over 4 per cent, with Santos leaping 4 per cent at $4.73 and Woodside gaining 0.9 per cent to $27.50.

It was a similar story in the mining space as BHP Billiton advanced 2.1 per cent to $20.68 and Rio Tinto edged up 0.1 per cent to $49.74.

Iron ore miner Fortescue jumped 1.6 per cent to $4.59 despite ore prices sliding against the trend in offshore trade and concerns being raised about the sustainability of its run-up this year.

“Iron ore has pulled back 2.1 per cent, and there are signs that the good times could be behind Fortescue, at least in the short-term,” IG chief market strategist Chris Weston said.

“A move above $4.71 would negate this view, while a break below the January 2016 uptrend would be a red flag. [It’s] one for the radar.”

Earnings season took a back seat for the first time all week, although James Hardie and Baby Bunting drew some attention.

Building products supplier James Hardie slipped 0.8 per cent on the back of a quarterly update that failed to offer guidance as high as the market wanted, while retailer Baby Bunting rocketed 7.8 per cent after topping full-year forecasts.

In finance, the big four were all over the shop as NAB jumped 1.5 per cent, CBA and ANZ ended marginally in the black and Westpac slumped 1.3 per cent, with the latter hurt by a downgrade from JPMorgan analysts.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar held below US77c through the local session, ending the day at US76.84c.