AXJO ends 0.8% higher for the week Miners soar as iron ore,...

• AXJO ends 0.8% higher for the week
• Miners soar as iron ore, copper prices hit record high
• Tech stocks post worst week in 11

(Updates to close)

Australian shares ended higher on Friday, posting a weekly gain after two straight weeks of losses, as soaring commodity prices boosted miners, while the central bank raising its forecasts for the economy also buoyed sentiment.

Global stocks rose ahead of U.S. jobs report and Federal Reserve's stance on monetary stimulus later in the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) closed 0.3% higher at 7,080.80, while gaining 0.8% for the week.

The Reserve Bank of Australia predicted economic growth to hit near double digits in the current quarter, while emphasising that the wage growth is too slow.

"We had a bounce back today from Thursday's declines, while U.S. markets helped the sentiment with Dow Jones' closing high," said James Tao, market analyst at CommSec.

"The fact that there were zero community transmission cases of COVID-19 (in Australia) certainly lifted the mood."

That helped travel stocks rebound from Thursday's losses, with online travel bookings provider Webjet (WEB) and tourism services providers Flight Centre Travel (FLT) gaining 7.4% and 7.3%, respectively.

Metals and mining index .AXMM rose 1.3%, as iron ore and copper hit record highs, with heavyweights BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) gained 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD rose 3.4% on firmer bullion prices, with index heavyweight Newcrest Mining (NCM) surging 3.8%.

Financial stocks .AXFJ rose 0.5%, with the "Big Four" banks gaining between 0.3% and 1.1%. Financial conglomerate Macquarie Group (MQG) declined 0.4%, even as it posted a record annual profit, beating its guidance.

Bucking the trend, technology stocks .AXIJ fell 2.3% as investors turned back to value stocks on recovery hopes, intensified by sell-off in U.S. peers.

The sub-index shed 10.5% for the week, its biggest weekly drop in 11. Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay (APT) shed 18.9% for the week.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.2% to end the session at 12,729.92, in its third consecutive session of losses.