Updates to close

By Kumar Tanishk

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended a few pips lower on Friday but extended weekly gains, supported by strong corporate earnings, with banks cushioning losses on the day.

The S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO slipped 4.8 points to 9,081.4, snapping a four-day winning streak, but rose 1.8% for the week after touching a record 9,118.3 on Thursday.

Markets have rallied on solid earnings from BHP BHP.AX and National Australia Bank NAB.AX, with investors now looking to results from Woodside Energy WDS.AX, Woolworths WOW.AX, Coles COL.AX and Qantas QAN.AX.

In the week, investors cheered earnings beats from companies such as QBE Insurance Group QBE.AX, up 7.1% on the day, while misses such as rival Suncorp Group SUN.AX, were punished.

On the day, miners .AXMM fell 0.7% after the world's top iron ore producer, Rio Tinto RIO.AX, shed 3.1% after reporting an annual profit on Thursday after market hours, that missed estimates.

Even so, the subindex has advanced 0.9% this week, underpinned by upbeat earnings from rival BHP >, whose shares climbed 0.2% on the day.

The expected rotation out of pricey banks and into miners failed to emerge this week as stronger‑than‑forecast bank earnings undercut the view that the sector was “ex‑growth”, said Philip Pepe, senior equities analyst at Shaw and Partners.

“All the major banks have now reported, and most delivered results ahead of consensus, which has instead triggered upgrades and rotation back into the sector,” Pepe added.

Banks .AXFJ climbed 0.7% on the day, cushioning wider losses, and have rallied 2.8% for the week.

Among individual movers, fast‑food chain Guzman y Gomez GYG.AX slumped as much as 16.5% to a record low after flagging sluggish U.S. sales in a tougher consumer backdrop.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 .NZ50 ended 1% lower at 13,308.52.

(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk;))