AU Evening Wrap: Block rally lifts ASX to 0.5pc gain

Afterpay-owner $Block Inc (SQ2.AU)$ led the Australian sharemarket higher on Friday after reporting a stronger-than-expected third quarter profit, causing its share price to leap 10.9 per cent to $97.03.

Block's gross profit grew by 38 per cent compared with a year earlier to $US1.57 billion ($2.5 billion), beating analyst projections of $US1.52 billion. Its Cash App, Square and buy now, pay later assets offset weaker bitcoin revenues.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ added 0.5 per cent, or 34.6 points, to 6892.5 on Friday, lifting its weekly gain to 1.6 per cent. The broader All Ordinaries index added 0.6 per cent to 7089.3 on Friday.

Resource stocks provided most of the day's momentum. $Allkem Ltd (AKE.AU)$ gained 6.03 per cent, $Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AU)$ 5 per cent and $South32 Ltd (S32.AU)$ 3.53 per cent. Among the majors, $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ firmed 3.86 per cent, $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ 2.47 per cent and $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$ 1.53 per cent.

Coal miners were also strong. $Coronado Global Resources Inc (CRN.AU)$ climbed 8.61 per cent. $Whitehaven Coal Ltd (WHC.AU)$ gained 5.95 per cent.

In the energy space, $Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$ rallied 3.89 per cent back to a new four-year peak. $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ tacked on 2.3 per cent.

Under-siege fund manager $Magellan Financial Group Ltd (MFG.AU)$ fell 2.35 per cent to a fresh nine-year low as net outflows continued. Total funds under management declined by $2.4 billion during October.

Takeover target $Pendal Group Ltd (PDL.AU)$ slid 0.22 per cent after reporting a 32 per cent drop in full-year net profit to $112.8 million.