Australian shares swung back to positive territory on Friday's close as equities received a boost from earnings season in the US and oil prices eased.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.74%, or 64 points, to close at 8,729.80.
Brent crude oil futures were trading over $111 per barrel. The Strait of Hormuz remained closed, and Iran said it would respond with "long and painful strikes" on US positions if the US renewed attacks.
Strong corporate earnings lead to a rally in tech stocks on Wall Street. The US gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a 2% annualized rate last quarter, compared with a 0.5% pace in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said.
On the domestic front, Australia's producer prices, excluding exports, increased 0.4% in the March quarter, following a 0.8% rise in the December 2025 quarter, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australia's manufacturing sector returned to expansion in April, though the improvement was outweighed by major supply-chain disruptions and a sharp rise in costs linked to fuel and freight pressures arising from the Middle East conflict, according to a survey by S&P Global.
The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Australia Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) rose to 51.3 in April from 49.8 in March.
Australia's home value index edged 0.3% higher in April, registering its slowest pace of growth since January 2025 amid declines in Sydney and Melbourne, according to figures from Cotality.
In company news, ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) reported fiscal first-half cash earnings of AU$1.242 per share, up from AU$1.17 a year earlier. Operating income for the six months ended March 31 was AU$11.2 billion, compared with about AU$11 billion a year earlier. Its shares fell 2% at market close.
Coles Group (ASX:COL) sales revenue for the fiscal third quarter was AU$10.7 billion, up from AU$10.38 billion a year earlier. The increase was driven by a 4% growth in the supermarket segment's sales revenue to AU$9.78 billion. Its shares closed up 3%.
Lastly, Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) and its Jetstar unit are set to extend previously disclosed schedule changes across their international and domestic network into the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, aiming to mitigate the impact of significantly higher fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict. Its shares closed up 1%.