Australia's share market pared early losses to edge slightly higher as a strong energy sector and mining boom kept the market above water.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 2.8 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 9,032.8 on Thursday, while the broader All Ordinaries rose eight points or 0.09 per cent to 9,329.1.
Energy shares rose more than three percent after US sanctions on Russian oil balanced crude prices and the Woodside gas deal provided a springboard for the sector's biggest company.
“The ASX 200 had a bit of a dip below 9000 early on and has bounced back nicely, with the energy sector being the main driver,” IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
Woodside's deal with US gas infrastructure provider Williams helped send its shares more than four per cent to $24.17, while Santos (down 2.2 per cent) and Ampol (up 4.1 per cent) also recorded solid gains.
“Elsewhere, we had mostly banks down and a mixed day for big mining stocks, while gold stocks rose,” Mr Sycamore said.
Gold miners recaptured some of the previous session's losses after the precious metal hit a brick wall on Tuesday night's record-breaking surge, leading to its steepest one-day decline since 2013.
Northern Star and Evolution Mining gave back two per cent each, less than a third of their respective losses from Wednesday.
At 5pm spot gold was trading at $4,108 ($A6,329) an ounce, just six per cent below the recent record high.
Critical minerals and rare earths producers bid up in a tough week of trading following the announcement of Australia's critical minerals deal with the US.
Iluka Resources and Lynas Rare Earths each gained more than three percent, while lithium plays Liontown and Pilbara Minerals jumped more than four percent.
Among large-cap miners, Fortescue shares rose 2.4 percent to $20.84 on solid quarterly production results, Rio Tinto slipped 0.4 percent and BHP fell 1.2 percent after presenting little new to investors at its annual general meeting.
The heavyweight financials sector declined 0.8 percent as CBA (down 1.4 percent) led the four big decliners, with its shares trading at $171.66.
Insurers were broadly stronger after IAG reported strong first-quarter results, which were “benign” on the natural catastrophe front.
Buy now, pay later provider Zip Co. has fallen more than 13 percent in three sessions to $4.02 as investors took profits after the company raised its revenue estimates earlier in the week.
Zip's share price has risen more than 200 percent since April.
Silex Systems was the best performer in the top 200, rising nearly nine percent after winning third-party verification of its laser-based uranium enrichment technology.
At the other end of the table was Perpetual Asset Management, which fell 4.3 per cent after Chairman Greg Cooper urged shareholders not to believe everything they read in the media, instead dismissing outright reports that Oaktree is considering abandoning plans to buy Perpetual's wealth business.
Rebel Sport owner Super Retail Group also declined four per cent after its quarterly update indicated a softening in sales growth.
The Australian dollar was buying at 64.92 US cents, down slightly from 65.04 US cents at 5pm on Wednesday.
On ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 rose 2.8 points, or 0.03 percent, to 9,032.8.
* The broader All Ordinaries rose eight points, or 0.09 per cent, to 9,329.1.
Currency Snapshot:
One Australian dollar trades for:
* 64.92 US cents, up from 65.04 US cents on Wednesday
* 98.93 JPY, from 98.74 JPY
* 55.96 euro cents, from 56.00 euro cents
* 48.64 British pence, from 48.70 British pence
* 113.18 NZ cents, from 113.01 NZ cents
