Australian shares closed 1.9 percent higher on Friday, after earlier touching five-year lows, as bargain hunters scooped up mining stocks at the end of a week of devastating losses, tracking a rally in U.S. stock futures.  Even with the bounce, the market ended the week down 8.8 percent and down 50 percent from the record high hit a year ago. Dealers said it was hard to pinpoint what sparked the rally, and said it was too early to say whether the turnaround was sustainable.  The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 63.6 points to close at 3,416.5 for its first gain in a week, rallying almost 200 points from the day's low of 3,217.5.

Top global minerg BHP Billiton ended up 3.8 percent at $21.90 after touching a three-year low of $20, while Rio Tinto jumped 4.8 percent to $60.01, bouncing off its lowest level since September 2005. The top banks all ended higher, led by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, rising 5.6 percent to $30.95.  AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd, Australia's seventh-biggest retail fund manager, was the second-highest gainer, rocketing 40 percent to $5.11 after it hosed down speculation it was planning a capital raising. The top gainer was Asciano Group, another stock that has been heavily sold off on talk it would have to raise capital if its asset sale plan failed.  It shot up 44 percent to $1.34 to a five-day high, but has still lost around 80 percent of its value so far this year.
   
Gold companies benefited from a recent firming in bullion prices. Sino Gold Mining rose 6.35 percent to $2.68 while Lihir Gold jumped 10.8 percent to $1.80.  A plunge in oil prices below $50 a barrel knocked energy companies, with Woodside Petroleum falling 5.4 percent to $29.00 and Oil Search down 6.9 percent to $4.33. Fortescue Metals Group soared 40 percent to $1.80 after announcing late on Thursday it had increased iron ore sales to China, in stark contrast to the gloom surrounding the sector over fears of weakening demand.

A battered Australian dollar came back from the brink on Friday as central bank intervention and a late bounce in Asian stocks helped calm an offshore rout that had seen it down over 4 percent at one stage.  In late trade, the Aussie dollar had clawed its way to $0.6191 and away from a one-month low of $0.6075. It had tumbled three U.S. cents in New York on Thursday as the S&P 500 shed more than 6 percent for the second day running.