Once again, a spike in the final minutes of trading pushed Australian shares higher and helped the market to a fourth straight weekly advance, the longest run since April.
Finishing up 0.2% at 6669.2, the highest close in six weeks, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% for the week.  
 
The heavily weighted big banks underpin the market, though Westpac lagged its peers after analysts at Citi suggested a dividend cut may be coming, while the industrials sector logged the biggest gain. Still, the energy subindex was down for a third day running after crude prices moved lower overnight.   

U.S. stocks clinched a third consecutive week of gains and are sitting within a hair of their records, as moderating tensions between the U.S. and China eased fears about a potential recession.  

 Major indexes have rebounded after a volatile August that rattled share prices and government bond yields around the world. Despite a quiet session Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are within about 0.6% of their July highs.  
  
Investors continue to be preoccupied with the status of the trade talks, along with the prospect of looser monetary policy around the world.  
 
China said that it wouldn’t impose new tariffs on U.S. soybeans, pork and other agricultural goods. That followed a Wall Street Journal report earlier in the week that Beijing was making efforts to narrow the scope of negotiations and a postponement by President Trump of new tariffs that were set to be imposed on $250 billion of Chinese imports from Oct. 1.  
  
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.07 points, or 0.1%, to 27219.52 Friday, notching a 1.6% gain this week.  
The S&P 500 slipped 2.18 points, or 0.1%, to 3007.39, while the Nasdaq Composite edged down 17.75 points, or 0.2%, to 8176.71. All three indexes climbed for the third consecutive week.  

Concerns about slowing growth in the U.S. abated after fresh data showed American shoppers spent strongly in August. That prompted investors to dump safer assets like Treasurys. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.901%, from 1.789% Thursday, capping off its biggest one-week yield gain since June 2013. Yields rise as bond prices fall.  

Gold futures ended lower, giving up earlier gains to feed a loss for the week as appetite returned for assets perceived as risky and bond yields climb.  

Gold pared some of its earlier gains then turned lower after data Friday revealed that the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rebounded to 92 in September from 89.8 in August. U.S. business inventories also increased by 0.4% in July and U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in August.   

December gold on Comex lost $7.90, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,499.50 an ounce, with the commodity suffering at a weekly decline of 1.1%. Silver for December delivery dropped 60.8 cents, or 3.3%, to $17.569 an ounce–the lowest finish since Aug. 23, according to FactSet data. Prices saw a weekly loss of 3%.   

Oil futures finished lower, with both U.S. and international benchmark crude posting sizable weekly falls as worries about the prospect of rising inventories appeared to overshadow a U.S.-China tariff detente.

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell 24 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $54.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange–for a roughly 3% weekly decline, according to Dow Jones Market Data, tracking the front-active contract. November Brent crude shed 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $60.22 a barrel on the ICE Futures, with prices marking a weekly fall of 2.1%.   

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, rebounded slightly to 91.10 from an earlier low of 90.99, after U.S. retail sales figures came in above expectations.  

The pound surged to its highest level since late July as concerns that the U.K. could leave the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31 continued to ease. Sterling was up 1% against the dollar at $1.2455.   

European stocks gained as easing trade tensions lifted the mood and the London Stock Exchange rebuffed a GBP29.6B takeover bid. The FTSE 100 and the Stoxx Europe 600 were both up 0.3%, while the DAX gained 0.5% and the CAC-40 climbed 0.2%.  

Meanwhile, the LSE rejected the overtures of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, citing concerns about the financial structure of the deal and political risks. 

Hong Kong stocks closed higher up as investors welcomed U.S. and China trade war de-escalations. The Hang Seng Index ended up 1.0% at 27352.69 and KGI Securities expects the bourse will likely consolidate around 27000 in the near term.  
 
Most HSI constituents rose on the day, with property stocks leading the pack. Country Garden jumped 2.3% as China Resources Land rose 1.7%, while lenders Bank of China and China Construction Bank joined in the gains with respective rises of 1.3% and 1.1%. Casino stocks Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group both added 1.3%.  

Japan’s Nikkei was up 1.1%. Markets in China, Korea and Taiwan were closed for a holiday.  
 Indian shares ended higher, with the benchmark Sensex up 0.8% at 37384.99. Economists expect further easing by India’s central bank to boost economic growth, which is likely to lift investor sentiment and bodes well for the market in general.  
 
Singapore stocks close higher, with the FTSE Straits Times Index rising 0.5% to 3211.49, extending its rally for the week.