The Australian share market has pared its gains amid worries about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with market heavyweight CSL plunging on takeover speculation.

The market increased by nearly 1 per cent in the first hour of trade on Friday, after Wall Street rebounded from heavy losses.

However, it fell into the red over lunchtime, before clawing back the losses.

The All Ordinaries index ended up 0.1 per cent to 7,543, while the ASX 200 put on 0.2 per cent to 7,241.

Most sectors ended higher, with oil and gas firms, banks and miners boosting the market, while health care firms led the falls as biotech CSL slumped by nearly 3 per cent.

The best performers on the ASX 200 were radiology software firm Pro Medicus (+3.8pc) and investment firm Washington H Soul Pattinson (+3.3pc) and Corporate Travel Management (+3.1pc).

All the big banks gained with NAB, ANZ and Westpac rising by more than 1 per cent. 

TPG Telecom slumped 8.6 per cent, the worst performer on the ASX 200, after founder David Teoh decided to sell 53.1 million shares, representing 3 per cent of the company.

Also going down were technology firm Codan (-4.7pc) and online retailer Kogan (-4.2pc).

The Australian dollar dipped 0.3 per cent to 70.73 US cents in afternoon trade, after new data showed that China's services industry expanded at a slower pace last month because of inflationary pressures and COVID-19 outbreaks. 

CSL assessing deals 

Vaccine-maker CSL refused to comment on media reports it was in talks to buy Swiss pharmaceutical firm Vifor Pharma Group for a reported $10 billion. 

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, CSL said it noted the media speculation.

"There is no certainty that any transaction will result from CSL's consideration of such opportunities and, if any transaction does result, when such a transaction would occur."

Vifor also refused to comment on the market speculation. 

CSL shares fell 2.5 per cent to $297.67.

Vifor's shares surged by 21 per cent on the Swiss share market on the news.

BHP to scrap dual-listed structure

Global miner BHP said its board had approved a plan to scrap the company's dual-listed structure ahead of a shareholder vote on the proposal next month. 

In August,  the miner decided to simplify its corporate structure from two parent companies and two share prices, into one firm headquartered in Australia.

BHP has traded on the stock exchanges in Australia and the United Kingdom since 2001, when it merged with Billiton. 

It will still trade on markets in Australia, London, New York and Johannesburg.

BHP is the second-biggest company on the London Stock Exchange.

"The board believes that unification is in the best interest of shareholders."

The company expects the corporate overhaul to be complete by the end of January, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

As part of its corporate restructure, BHP is merging its oil and gas business with Woodside Petroleum.

BHP shares increased 1.3 per cent to $40.23.

Brent crude oil put on 1.8 per cent to $US70.94 a barrel, while spot gold rose 0.20 per cent to $US1772.45 an ounce at 4:20pm AEDT.

Wall Street rebounds

US shares rallied, with aircraft maker Boeing surging after saying it had made progress in getting Chinese approval of its 737 MAX plane. 

China's aviation authority has issued an airworthiness directive on the aircraft that will help pave the way for the 737 MAX's return to service in China after two and a half years. 

China's aviation regulator was the first to ground the aircraft in 2019 after two deadly crashes.

The market recovered ground lost yesterday, which saw a steep sell-off in the last hour of trade on worries about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and the upcoming withdrawal of stimulus by the US central bank. 

Value stocks, economically sensitive smaller stocks and transport firms did the best, with travel and hospitality stocks also bouncing back. 

"Second, economic data, particularly labour data, is coming out on the strong side."

The Dow Jones index rose 1.8 per cent, or 618 points, to 34,640, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 per cent, to 4,577, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8 per cent, to 15,381. 

Jobless claims fall 

New claims for unemployment benefits increased less than expected last week and lay-offs fell to the lowest level in more than 28 years. 

Claims rose by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the ending November 27. 

They dropped in the week before to 194,000, the lowest since 1969.

That probably indicates people have found work in a tight labour market or exhausted their benefits.

A US Chamber of Commerce survey showed many Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic had not returned to work.

There were 10.4 million job openings at the end of September.

The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits was 2.31 million in mid-November.

Investors will now turn to the latest official US unemployment figures, which are out tonight. 

Economists expect non-farm payrolls to have increased by 550,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate is expected to have fallen from 4.6 per cent to 4.5 per cent. 

European stocks 

European shares lost ground as countries ramped up restrictions to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. 

The FTSE 100 in London fell 0.6 per cent, to 7,129, the DAX in Germany fell 1.4 per cent, to 15,263, and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 1.3 per cent, to 6,796.

Oil prices are higher, with Brent Crude up 1.9 per cent, to $US70.17 a barrel, while spot gold has fallen 0.8 per cent, to $US1,767.79 an ounce.

OPEC and other major oil producers maintained their regular oil production increase of 400,000 barrels a day at a meeting overnight.