Australian share market finished session higher on Friday, 20 May 2022, as investors chased for bottom fishing across the board after selloff in the previous day and ahead of Saturday's federal election.

Market risk sentiments propelled up after higher than expected China's benchmark borrowing rate cut to support its economy injected a note of optimism at the end of a volatile week. China cut its five-year loan prime rate (LPR) - which influences the pricing of mortgages - by 15 basis points on Friday, a sharper reduction than expected, as authorities seek to cushion the impact of an economic slowdown. It left the one-year LPR unchanged.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 surged 81.18 points, or 1.15%, to 7,145.64. The broader All Ordinaries index added 87.71 points, or 1.2%, to 7,391.04.

Tech stocks gained the most, with Block surging 9.9% and Xero adding 3.4%. Miners also posted broad-based gains, with IGO rallying 5.1% after an update relating to its lithium operations.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 102.913, falling from above 103.5 earlier this week. The Japanese yen changed hands at 127.97 per dollar, while the Australian dollar was at $0.7045.

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