May 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed on Friday, in line...

May 28 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed on Friday, in line with global markets as strong U.S. economic data solidified hopes of continuing recovery, with blue-chip miners leading the charge as iron ore rebounded.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 1% to 7,163.7 points by 0025 GMT, eyeing its best weekly finish in eight. The benchmark closed flat on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 opened up 1.6% at 29017.82, and the S&P 500 E-minis futures firmed 17.5 points, or 0.4%.

Wall Street closed higher overnight after data showed that the U.S. economy grew by 6.4% last quarter, with positive indicators from the labour market also buoying sentiment.

Major Australian miners .AXMM rose 2.5% to outperform the local benchmark as iron ore prices recovered after hitting a more than six-week low as concerns over China's crackdown eased.

The world's biggest iron ore miner Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO) jumped 4.8% to be among top gainers on the benchmark, while rival BHP Group (BHP) advanced 2.9%.

Local energy stocks .AXEJ rose 1.9% as oil prices shot up 1% overnight on U.S. economic data offsetting worries over the potential for a rise in Iranian supplies.

Sector heavyweights Whitehaven Coal Ltd (WHC) vaulted 4.9%, followed by Oil Search Ltd (OSH) , gaining 3.0​%.

Financials .AXFJ gained 0.9% with Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) leading gains on the subindex.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) , the country's biggest lender, climbed 0.8% after brokerage Jefferies lauded its progress in the tech arena and raised its price target.

Among individual stocks, shareholder registry firm Link Administration (LNK) advanced 4.2% on getting an over A$3 billion ($2.32 billion) offer for its majority-owned online real estate platform PEXA.

Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.03% to 12,240.

($1 = 1.2920 Australian dollars)