AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Rise 0.2% as Bank Stocks Rally

Australia's $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ closed 0.2% higher at 7729.4 as bank stocks continued to claw back their heavy week-opening losses. $National Australia Bank Ltd(NAB.AU)$, $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd(ANZ.AU)$ and $Westpac Banking Corp(WBC.AU)$ added between 1.7% and 1.8% as the ASX 200 benchmark index followed a positive lead from U.S. equities. The ASX 200 is still down 1.5% so far this week, which opened with its largest fall in a year.

Real-estate and consumer-related stocks performed even better as investors look forward to next week's interest-rate decision by Australia's central bank. The property sector rose 1.05%, while gains by travel agents $Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd(FLT.AU)$ and $Webjet Ltd(WEB.AU)$ helped lift consumer discretionaries by 1.3%.