Australia shares end up 0.5 pct

Australian stocks advanced 0.5 per cent on Friday,with better-than-expected profit at Macquarie Group helping some financial stocks but the mining sector was dragged by worries about a possible tax hike.

For the month,stocks finished down 1.4 per cent,hurt by worries about the euro zone debt crisis and the risk of a new tax on local mining companies,after jumping 5.1 per cent in March.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 21.8 points to 4,807.4,according to latest data.

New Zealand’s benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 0.1 per cent to 3,286.1.