News: XEJ Australian shares post best week in 8 months as corporate earnings peak

	  AXJO posts highest close in two weeks 

	  ASX declines as annual profit slips 

	  Banks rise for seventh straight session  

(Updates to close)

Australian shares rose on Friday to notch their best week of the year, as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings from some major blue-chip companies, while U.S. data soothed fears of an imminent recession in the world's largest economy.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 1.3% to 7,971.1, marking its highest close in two weeks. For the week, it gained 2.5% in its best week since Dec. 15, 2023.

Market participants assessed the earnings of some major companies this week including top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) , top polluter AGL Energy (AGL) , and biotech giant CSL (CSL) .

"Market is very volatile. Beats are getting small bounce, while missed are getting bashed in small- and micro-cap space," said Mathan Somasundaram, CEO of Deep Data Analytics.

Next week, investors will focus on the earnings of oil and gas giant Santos (STO) and Whitehaven Coal (WHC)

On Friday, bellwether financials .AXFJ rose for a seventh consecutive day and closed 1.6% higher in their best session since July-end. The sub-index gained 4.8% this week in its best week since October 2022.

Miners .AXMM soared 2.1% on Friday after a two-session slide. BHP Group (BHP) added 2%.

Energy stocks .AXEJ also gained as global oil prices rose on favourable U.S. economic data.

Among individual stocks, ASX (ASX) fell as much as 3.3% to hit a one-week low after the country's stock market operator reported a dip in annual earnings as higher expenses bit into the firm's bottom line.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) closed flat. It gained 4% for the week, its best since April 2020.