Australian investors have shrugged off concerns about COVID-19, with the top 200 index reaching its highest ever close for the second consecutive day.

The benchmark ASX 200 closed at 7,394.4, beating the previous record high close of 7,368.4 posted on Thursday.

The broader All Ordinaries gained 12 basis points to finish the week at 7,670.

In the top 200 companies, health and tech stocks led the charge. 

The top performers were Nuix (+5.8pc), Evolution Mining (+5pc), Redbubble (+4.5pc) and Iluka Resources (+4.1pc). 

Meanwhile, the worst performers were Silver Lakes Resources Limited (-8.5pc), Northern Star Resources (-5.9pc), Nine (-2.5pc), Auckland International Airport (-2.4pc).

The Australian dollar was down 0.1 per cent at 73.65 US cents.

Star walks away from Crown 

Crown was among the worst performers in early trading with its shares down 3 per cent as investors responded to Star's announcement it was walking away from its $12 billion merger offer.

Star cited doubts the casino operator would hold onto its licence to run its Melbourne venue as the reason for its decision.

"Uncertainty surrounding Crown is such that The Star is unable to continue at the present time with its Proposal in the form as announced on 10 May 2021".

Earlier this week lawyers for the royal commission said Crown was not suitable to hold a casino licence.

The Australian dollar was flat and buying 73.78 US cents.

Tech stocks boost Wall Street 

The Dow Jones rose 29 points to 34,823 and the benchmark S&P 500 was 0.3 per cent to close at 4,637, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose to 14,358.

US 10-year Treasury yields eased.

Tech stocks buoyed the US indexes while energy stocks suffered the biggest falls in a choppy day of trading which coincided with concerns about jobless claims.

Twitter stocks jumped 7 per cent after the bell following a strong quarterly earnings report. 

Advertising revenue for Twitter was up 87 per cent to $USD1.05 billion from a year ago, surpassing Wall Street estimates of $USD909.9 million.

Other US tech companies to perform well were Salesforce which gained 2.5 per cent, while Amazon and Facebook finished up 1.4 per cent.

It came as jobless claims in the US spooked some investors in early trading.

"The jobless claims data that came out this morning was soft and continues to be stubbornly elevated," investment analyst for Cornerstone Wealth, Sean Bandazian, said.

Meanwhile, iron ore fell 5.7 per cent to $US292.63 a tonne. 

Oil was up 2 per cent to $USD71.7 a barrel.

Spot gold added 0.2 per cent to $USD1,806.71 an ounce.

In Europe, the STOXX 600 index rose (+0.6pc), along with Germany's DAX (+0.6pc) and Britain's FTSE (-0.4pc).