* Australian shares gain 0.6 percent for the week
* BHP ends at near 3-mth low(Updates to close)
March 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended slightly higheron Friday as gains across a number of sectors outpaced a declinein materials, allowing the benchmark to end the week higher.
Material stocks faced heavy selling pressure after
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 0.3 percent, or 20.3points, at 5,963.2, and gained about 0.6 percent through atumultous week.
Finanicals led gains, with the 'big-four banks' all endinghigher for the day. Commonwealth Bank of
Financials tracked their
However, those gains were largely offset by losses forAustralian miners.
BHP Billiton, the largest miner on the index (andthe world) by market capitalisation, fell 1.7 percent, and wasby far the biggest drag on the index. The stock ended at itslowest since December 2017.
The benchmark metals and mining index ended 2percent lower. Rio Tinto fell about 2.7 percent to itslowest close since December.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday hewas hopeful of securing an exemption from
Gold stocks also fell following gold prices, which extendedlosses after dollar strengthened against the yen on hopes ofeasing tensions between
Telecommunications provider Spark New Zealand ended3.5 percent higher and was the biggest boost to the index, whileFisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp ended 1.7 percentlower.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by KimCoghill)
