The Australian share market has been bolstered by mining companies after a rise in iron ore prices, as Chinese cities eased some COVID-19 restrictions after widespread protests.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar also climbed on the news about China, lifting 0.7 per cent, to around 68.38 US cents, at 4:15pm AEDT, the highest since mid-September.
Both major indices came off their highs by the close of trade but still ended higher.
The All Ordinaries index rose 0.3 per cent, to 7,528, while the ASX 200 index also rose 0.3 per cent, to 7,326.
Miners led the way with BHP (+2.3 per cent), Rio Tinto (+3.7 per cent) and Fortescue Metals (+6.9 per cent) surging as iron ore prices jumped above $US106 a tonne.
Major banks lost their early gains, ahead of tomorrow's Reserve Bank meeting, where the central bank is expected to raise rates by another 0.25 percentage points.
The RBA has raised interest rates by 2.75 percentage points since May, to a nine year high of 2.85 per cent.
Six of the eleven market sectors ended higher on the ASX 200, with education firms, utilities and industrials among the laggards.
Miners, energy and real estate and energy shares did the best, with Fortescue Metals, oil company Beach Energy (+5.3 per cent) and Rio Tinto among the best performers.
Leading the losses were gold explorer De Gray Mining (-6.4 per cent) and lithium miner Pilbara Minerals (-5.1 per cent).
Grocery distributor Metcash (+0.2 per cent) said half-year revenue rose thanks to strong growth in sales and earnings amid higher inflation, although half year net profit slipped slightly.
Investors will get a fully franked interim dividend of 11.5 cents a share.
Spot gold prices rose 0.6 per cent, to $US1808.35 an ounce.
Brent crude oil held onto most of its gains, at $US86.23 a barrel, with major oil producers OPEC pledging to go ahead with production cuts and China easing its COVID-19 restrictions.
The US, European Union, Australia and other nations have imposed a price cap on Russian oil of $US60 a barrel because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese markets were also higher on hopes of the further lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
In afternoon trade, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.6 per cent, to 3,205, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong climbed 3.5 per cent, to 19,321.
COVID-19 curbs hit Chinese economy
In November, China's service industry slumped to its weakest in six months, according to a new report, as tough COVID-19 restrictions shut down parts of the economy and weakened demand.
The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers index fell to 46.7 last month, from 48.4 in October.
It was the third monthly contraction in a row and echoed data in an official survey released last week, which showed activity in the services industry at a seven-month low.
Companies surveyed reported large falls in production and work, and continued to lay off staff as confidence continued to decline.
New COVID-19 infections reached record highs last month and analysts at Japanese banking giant Nomura estimated that areas in lockdown typically accounted for about one quarter of Chinese economic growth.
China's COVID-zero policies have been met with widespread social unrest, which has seen restrictions eased in some Chinese cities over recent days.
"Since October, the impact of COVID outbreaks has taken a heavy toll on the economy, and the challenge of how to balance COVID controls and economic growth has once again become a core issue," said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group.
"The market is in urgent need of policies to promote employment and stabilise domestic demand."
Caixin's composite PMI — which includes manufacturing and services — also contracted in November.
Company profits wane
Australian firms saw profits fall from July to September, according to the Bureau of Statistics.
Company gross operating profit dropped 12.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted, over the September quarter, with mining profits falling by nearly one-fifth as commodity prices came back down to earth on recession fears.
However, over the year to September, gross operating profits jumped by nearly one-fifth, to a record $549.2 billion.
It's the fastest profit growth in nearly five years.
Meanwhile, inventories or business supplies rose 1.7 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Wages rose by 2.9 per cent over the quarter, amid strong demand for labour because of skills shortages.
CommSec said that amounted to the wages bill for employers rising by 11 per cent on an annual basis, the fastest in 15 years.
The data contributes to the latest economic growth figures which are due out on Wednesday.
Westpac predicts that gross domestic product will have expanded by 0.8 per cent over the September quarter, and by 6.4 per cent over the year as the economy bounced back from last year's lockdowns.
Wall Street mixed
US stocks ended mixed on Friday, after the latest official jobs report drove expectations that the US central bank will maintain its path of interest rate hikes to combat inflation.
Elsewhere, US employers hired 263,000 people last month, more than forecast, and the unemployment rate remained steady, at 3.7 per cent.
The jobless rate was unchanged because around 186,000 people left the labour force and household employment decreased for the second month in a row.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones index rose 0.1 per cent, to 34,430, the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent, to 4,072, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.2 per cent, to 11,462.
The major indexes fell at least 1 per cent earlier in the session and ended off their lows.
Stocks rallied earlier in the week after comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell about scaling back the pace of interest rate rises as early as this month.
ABC/Reuters
