Aussie shares higher on bank rally Australian shares have finished higher, driven by strong gains among the big banks. The nation's biggest bank, Commonwealth, surged to a record high as the bank reporting season approaches. IG market analyst Stan Shamu said the local market had outperformed the region following falls in China and Japan. "Locally we have seen a situation where the banks have come to the front again and really driven the gains for the day," Mr Shamu said. The rest of the sectors had very mixed performances. Investors appeared to be optimistic ahead of the release of ANZ and National Australia Bank's full year results next week. Potentially, investors will receive better dividends than they did before. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's biggest bank by market value, finished at a record high share price of $75.58. The other three major banks all performed well. The big miners were mixed as commodity prices dipped and China's top lenders reportedly wrote off about $US3.7 billion ($A3.86 billion) in bad debt for the first six months of 2013, leading to a spike in Chinese interbank lending rates. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, lost 15 cents to $37.35, after three days of gains. Fortescue Metals Group fell five cents to $5.30 while gold miner Newcrest shed 18 cents to $10.91. After a lacklustre start Rio Tinto gained 20 cents to $63.85. In the banking sector Commonwealth Bank added 97 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $75.58, as Westpac gained 31 cents to $34.18, ANZ rose 40 cents to $32.37 and National Australia Bank jumped 12 cents to $35.59. Meanwhile, Wesfarmers lost eight cents to $41.92 even though its Coles' supermarket chain and liquor stores sold $6.9 million worth of goods during the September quarter, an increase of more than four per cent. At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 16.8 points, or 0.31 per cent, higher at 5,372.9. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 16.9 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 5,373.7. The December share price index futures contract was 19 points higher at 5,365, with 20,491 contracts traded. The Sydney gold price was $US1335.55, down $US3.13 from $US1,338.68 on Wednesday. National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $3.7 billion.