ASX 200 rallies for fifth straight weekly gain; CSL ends at 15-month high as iron ore miners fall

ASX 200 less than 1 per cent off its record. Commonwealth Bank closes at all-time high. CSL hits 15-month best. IAG falls on perils blowout. Iron ore miners fall on China prospects. 

The ASX is tipped to jump after strong leads from the US overnight, with the Nasdaq rising more than 3 per cent. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, February 3. The Australian sharemarket has risen to a nine-month high to be less than 1 per cent of its all-time high on strong gains led by health care.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.6 per cent higher to 7558.10.

Wall Street was mixed as the Nasdaq surged 3.3 per cent, the S&P 500 added 1.5 per cent and the the Dow Jones fell 0.1 per cent. Shares in Facebook’s parent company soared 23.3 per cent higher, delivering the stock its best daily performance since it jumped 30 per cent in July 2013.

The dollar lost nearly US1c in the past 24 hours to be buying US70.60c at the close.