News: MFG Miners, banks help Australian shares notch 3-1/2-month closing high

• Gold stocks top drag on benchmark
• Fund manager Magellan top gainer
• Miners hit near four-month high

(Updates to close)

Australian shares inched higher on Thursday, rising for a sixth straight session to close at their highest in more than three and a half months in thin trading volumes, as miners and banks offset a broader sell-off.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) edged up 0.05% to 7,513.40, its highest close since Sept. 7, and was on track to post a yearly gain of about 14%. Fund manager Magellan Financial Group (MFG) topped the benchmark, closing 3.7% higher.

Miners .AXMM were the major boost to the benchmark, rising half a percent to their highest in nearly four months. BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) jumped about 1% each as iron ore futures rebounded after three days of losses.

However, gold stocks .AXGD fell nearly 1% and were the top drags, with heavyweights Newcrest Mining (NCM) and Northern Star Resources (NST) declining 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

Australian gold stocks have lost about 12% so far this year, heading for their first annual decline since 2013, as the metal was set for its worst performance in six years on rising real yields and overall U.S. dollar strength.

However, with inflation picking up, the appeal of safe-haven assets like gold is likely to increase.

"If we are going to have long lasting inflation, you want to be in hard assets. That's commodities, that's precious metals," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

Since Australian gold miners are cheap at the moment, they will get attractive for their growth and ability to pay cash dividends going forward, Smoling said.

Elsewhere, financials .AXFJ ended 0.2% higher, with only Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) of the so called "Big Four" banks ending in negative territory while the other top three banks gained between 0.2% and 0.4%.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.8% to 13,040.94, its highest close since Nov. 9.