The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday up 26.9 points, or 0.5 per cent higher, at 5,391.1 points, while the All Ordinaries index closed up 38.1 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,488.
“Not a bad performance,” said CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian, who noted for the week the market finished up 145.2 points, or 2.77 per cent.
“This has been a good week, the best we’ve had since early April.”
Sentiment was helped by talks between the US and China trade negotiators after days of tension, as well as the prime minister’s “COVIDSafe” roadmap for easing coronavirus lockdowns, Mr Daghlian said.
The consumer discretionary sector gained 2.2 per cent as retailers looked forward to business returning.
Myer soared 45 per cent, Harvey Norman gained 6.7 per cent, JB Hi-Fi rose 3.7 per cent and Super Retail Group gained 6.6 per cent.
Also, car dealership chain AP Eagers gained 9.9 per cent, furniture retailer Nick Scali rose 5.8 per cent and Target owner Wesfarmers gained 2.9 per cent to $37.45.
Funeral home operators Propel Funerals and Invocare were up 14.6 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, while Flight Centre gained 8.1 per cent and Crown Resorts gained 2.0 per cent.
CSL was the main drag on the market, falling 2.2 per cent to $301.18.
The big banks were mixed, with CBA up 0.6 per cent to $59.60 while NAB dropped 0.9 per cent to $16.08, ANZ fell 0.8 per cent to $15.73 and Westpac down 0.6 per cent to $15.51.
But Macquarie Group shone, rising 5.7 per cent to $105.19 after reporting its full-year net profit was down just eight per cent to $2.7 billion despite the pandemic.
AMP rose 3.3 per cent to $1.41 after announcing it would shelve its decision to divest its New Zealand wealth management operations after offers failed to meet expectations.
Zip Co surged 14.3 per cent to $3.27 after the buy now, pay later company reported that monthly revenue was up 81 per cent year-on-year in April, to $51.1 million.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP gained 1.3 per cent to $31.40, Rio Tinto rose 1.8 per cent to $83 and Fortescue Metals climbed 5.2 per cent to $12.04.
Goldminers were mixed, with Newcrest down 0.8 per cent and Northern Star up 1.5 per cent.
Realestate.com.au owner REA Group gained 7.7 per cent to $95.17 after announcing its earnings grew eight per cent to $119.6 million in the three months to March 31.
News Corp’s ASX-listed shares gained 5.3 per cent to $16.36 after announcing its third-quarter earnings declined just two per cent to $374 million amid the virus crisis.
Telstra dropped 1.0 per cent to $3.03 after announcing it would take a $300 million impairment on its stake in Foxtel, a joint venture with News Corp.
Melbourne biotech company Cynata Therapeutics rose 7.6 per cent after receiving approval to begin clinical trials of stem cell treatment in a dozen seriously ill NSW COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, a quarterly forecast by the Reserve Bank of Australia that the country would face a 10 per cent economic contraction in the first half of the year didn’t have much impact on the Australian dollar.
The Aussie was trading at 65.23 US cents, up from 64.54 US cents on Thursday and close to its highest levels since the coronavirus crisis began in early March.