News: WEB Australia shares firmer but coal stocks hit by China ban; NZ up

• Coal miners hit after report of coal ban at China port
• Aussie benchmark set for weekly gain
• NZ shares on track for third week of gains

Australian shares rose on Friday, led by gains in the financial sector but China's ban on coal imports from Australia weighed on coal stocks and raised broader concerns about relations between Canberra and Beijing.

After volatile early trade, the S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.5 percent to 6,166.70 by 0033 GMT. The benchmark advanced on Thursday, and is on track to gain 1.7 percent this week.

The country's "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank (CBA) , Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) , National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) - rose between 0.4 percent and 1 percent.

Shares of online travel booking company Webjet (WEB) jumped 12.5 percent, following robust results on Thursday, which saw JP Morgan raise its rating and price target on the stock.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said on Friday the outlook for the country's economy was still positive, with above-trend growth and low unemployment, adding that it may be appropriate to lift the cash rate from current record lows of 1.50 percent sometime next year.

However, investors remain cautious following a week of mixed company earnings that showed signs of weakness in the Australian economy, said Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut.

"We are just going to drift a bit today. It's been an exhausting week of earnings and I think people will be happy to sit on the sidelines and stay out of trouble," he added.

Also casting a cloud over wider sentiment was a Reuters report on Thursday that customs at China's Dalian port banned imports of Australian coal and would cap overall coal imports from all sources.

The Reuters story sent shares of coal miners lower, with Whitehaven Coal (WHC) dropping as much as 5 percent to a week's low.

New Hope Corp (NHC) also fell about 5 percent to a near three week low, while Stanmore Coal (SMR) fell 8.9 percent to its biggest intraday percentage drop since May last year.

"That's an important story, more for sentiment than reality," Rooney said, alluding to how important relations with China are, considering it is Australia's largest trading partner.

Woodside Petroleum (WPL) was among the biggest losers, falling over 4 percent as the stock trades ex-dividend. The energy sub-index .AXEJ was about 1.6 percent lower, as oil prices fell off 2019 highs.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) rose 0.3 percent, or 24.11 points to 9,324.92. The index is set for a third week of gains.

Auckland International Airport (AIA) rose 2.4 percent to a more than one week high after reporting higher half-year profit on rising passenger numbers. For more individual stocks activity click on