The Australian share market ended the week higher on Friday, led by miners and the banking sector. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished up 25.3 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 4,648.2 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 23.2 points higher, or 0.49 per cent, at 4,719.6 points.

On the ASX24, formerly known as the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 23 points higher at 4,653 points, with 17,452 contracts traded.

The S&P/ASX 200 has risen around seven per cent since August 25. At the close, the big four banks were mixed. CBA was up 56 cents, or 1.12 per cent, at $50.50, ANZ was up 15 cents at $23.41 and Westpac rose 11 cents to $22.43, while NAB was down three cents at $24.48.

The miners closed higher on Friday. BHP Billiton rose 38 cents, or 0.92 per cent, to $41.60, after its chairman Jac Nasser said the mining giant would pull out of a hostile $US40 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp if it proves too expensive.

Saskatchewan's premier said the province won't support BHP Billiton's bid, but Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a softer line, describing the deal in Parliament as a proposal for an American controlled company to be taken over by an Australian controlled company.

Rio Tinto was up 30 cents at $82.05, while Fortescue Metals was 22 cents higher at $6.39. In overnight trade, gold fell to a three-week low, losing nearly 2 per cent as lower US jobless claims and a stalled euro rally prompted bullion investors to lock in recent profits.

Newcrest rebounded late after hitting an intra day low of $39.52 and finished five cents higher at $40.00. The spot price of gold in Sydney was $1,327.50 per fine ounce, down $15.07 from Thursday's local close of $1,342.57.

In market news on Friday, the federal government has given conditional approval to two major coal seam gas projects in central Queensland. Environment Minister Tony Burke told a media conference in Canberra on Friday his department had given conditional environmental approvals for Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) a joint venture between Santos, Malaysia's Petronas and France's Total and BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG.

Santos shares ended 24 cents higher at $12.50. Cashed up coal miner New Hope Corporation also says it has the financial resources to bring takeover target Northern Energy Corporation's (NEC) Queensland projects into production without delay.

New Hope is urging NEC shareholders to accept its offer of $1.50 a share, saying the target needs significant capital to develop its pipeline of projects. New Hope closed steady at $4.95. Woodside Petroleum said third quarter production volumes grew by five per cent, while sales revenue was down four per cent on the previous quarter.

Shares in Woodside closed down 66 cents, or 1.49 per cent, at $43.50. Global beverages firm Foster's Group says consumers known as millennials will drive growth in the premium wine sector in the key United States market as they drink new products such as Sledgehammer.

The United States is Foster's biggest wine market, accounting for 50 per cent of wine revenue. Foster's wine arm, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), is seeking to be the fastest growing premium wine company by value in the US by fiscal 2013. Foster's finished steady at $6.10. Amalgamated Holdings Ltd (AHL) says it booked a profit of $60.6 million on the sale of its 49 per cent share of MAF Greater Union LLC in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The entertainment, hospitality and leisure operator sold its share of the joint venture to its UAE partner Majid Al Futtaim Group for $78.7 million. Amalgamated Holdings shares closed down six cents, or 0.94 per cent, at $6.31.

The top traded stock by volume was Continental Coal, with 150.54 million shares worth $12.44 million changing hands. Continental finished down 0.4 cents, or 4.84 per cent, at 7.9 cents. Preliminary market turnover was 2.69 billion shares worth $4.98 billion, with 604 stocks up, 521 down and 373 unchanged.

Thin trade ahead of this weekend's meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in Korea capped gains in the Australian dollar in Asia on Friday as dealers wait for detail on the G-20's discussion on exchange rate valuations.

Outside of the G-20, the local currency is also waiting next week's crucial third quarter inflation numbers, which some analysts think could prompt renewed tightening by the Reserve Bank of Australia if core inflation breaches the central bank's 2%-3% target band on an annual basis, or a reading of 0.8% on quarter.

The Australian dollar traded at $0.9833, up from $0.9817 late Thursday, and traded against the Yen at 79.79 up from 79.67.