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ASX 200 hits record high for third-straight day
ASX 200 logs best week in over 1-month
Key central bank meetings awaited next week
By Kumar Tanishk
Feb 14 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose to a record on Friday, led by gold and iron ore miners due to robust underlying commodity prices, ahead of the anticipated interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia $(RBA)$ next week, the first in over four years.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended 0.2% higher at 8,555.80 after hitting a record high of 8,615.20 points earlier in the day.
The benchmark climbed 0.5% this week, its best weekly performance since January 10.
RBA is expected to trim interest rates by a quarter-point to 4.10% on February 18. 0#AUDIRPR
Iron ore prices rallied on Friday due to cyclone-led supply disruption in Australia's export hub Port Hedland, the world's largest. This drove domestic miners .AXMM 1.2% higher for week. IRONORE/
The sub-index was up 0.2% on the day after hitting its highest level since November 11 earlier.
Rio Tinto RIO.AX rose 0.7%, but BHP BHP.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX both fell by 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively. Port Hedland is used by both BHP and Fortescue.
Gold miners .AXGD advanced 1.3%, tracking record bullion prices. The sub-index gained 3.6% this week. GOL/
Index heavyweight Evolution Mining EVN.AX rose 1.3%.
Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ fell 0.2%, led by a 0.7% decline in the country's top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX, which slipped following multiple record highs touched this week on robust earnings.
"Investors are likely taking profits from Australia’s biggest bank today in the wake of consecutive records set this week post results being released," said Grady Wulff a Market Analyst at Bell Direct.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 ended the day 0.6% higher at 12,989.18 points logging its best week in over a month.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to cut its rates by 50 basis points to 3.75% on February 19. 0#NZDIRPR
(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))
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