ASX 200 rise on miners and utilities; CapVest gets FIRB nod for Virtus

ASX closes higher for the week as miners and utilities rise. Premier Investment down amid profit drop, CapVest gets FIRB nod, Syrah flags loss and JB Hi-Fi shares hit high.

All eyes remain on the latest developments on the Ukraine war and what it means for the price of crude oil. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire/

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, March 25. The Australian share market tracked stronger on gains by mining, utilities and real estate stocks to finish the week 1.5 per cent higher. That comes as Premier Investments dropped on earnings and CapVest gets FIRB nod for Virtus Health.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished higher by 0.3 per cent or 19.14 points to 7406.20 as the All Ordinaries index gained 20.9 points to 7689.9.

In the US, stocks bounced back from the previous session’s sell-off as the US and its allies looked to impose more sanctions on Russia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at the session's high, up 1 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.4  per cent and tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.9 per cent.

Among commodity prices, the Brent crude price fell 2.1 per cent to $US119.03 a barrel and the US Nymex crude price lost 2.3 per cent to $US112.34 a barrel.

Iron ore was little changed, down 0.1 per cent to $US149.02 a tonne overnight, while the Aussie dollar traded near US75.15c at the US close.