Nov 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares edged marginally higher on Friday, buoyed by the gains in commodity and financial stocks, with miners tracking an uptick in copper prices due to an upsurge in Chinese demand.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4% to 7,054.70 by 2356 GMT, after closing 0.6% lower on Thursday.

The bourse is also set to post its second weekly gain, riding on stronger underlying commodity prices, though hawkish inflation warning from the Reserve Bank of Australia's meeting minutes earlier this week has capped some gains.

Miners edged up 0.6%, tracking rising copper prices. The sub-index rose 0.9% for the week.

Fortescue rose 1.5% and Rio Tinto added 0.8%.

BHP Group shares edged 0.4% higher as a train driver union at the mining giant's Pilbara iron ore operations decided to withdraw industrial action which was due on Friday.

Energy stocks gained 1.4%, recovering from Thursday's losses. The sub-index rose 2.3% for the week, breaking a four-week losing streak.

Sector majors Woodside Energy and Santos gained 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

Origin Energy rose 2.3%. The energy major's top shareholder said on Thursday it would reject a complex new takeover offer by a Brookfield-led consortium.

Financials inched up 0.3%. The "Big Four" banks were up between 0.1% and 0.5%.

Gold stocks reversed course from earlier losses, nudging up 0.1%. The sub-index tracked higher gold prices, and gained 0.4% for the week.

Star Entertainment Group pared early gains and fell 0.5%. The casino operator was allowed a six-month extension to operate its Queensland casinos before its 90-day suspension.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.1% to 11,174.33.

A Reuters poll expects the country's central bank to hold its overnight cash rate at 5.50% at its policy meeting on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)