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SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose 0.3 percent on Friday as the market drew support from further weakness in the Australian dollar, underpinned by gains in big-cap miners like BHP Billiton Ltd on short-covering.
Global miners BHP Billiton Ltd jumped 1.9 percent while rival Rio Tinto Ltd (Xetra: 855018 - news) climbed 1.1 percent.
The S&P/ASX (Other OTC: ASXFF - news) 200 index added 15.1 points to 5,180.8, according to the latest data. The index fell 0.5 percent for the week.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.8 percent, dropping 38.2 points to 4,597.8.
(Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Kim Coghill)
