Feb 9 (Reuters) - Australian shares were subdued in early trade on Friday, as the losses in commodities stocks were offset by the gains in healthcare and real estate stocks, while building materials maker Boral hit a record high on strong earnings.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.04% to 7642.40 by 2350 GMT. The benchmark closed 0.3% higher on Thursday. For the week, it is set to end about 0.7% lower after two consecutive weekly gains.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock said there was still work to be done in order to reach the middle of the bank's target range of 2%-3%, adding that the bank had not ruled in nor out the possibility of another increase in interest rates.

The corporate earnings season commenced this week, with Australia's top power producer AGL Energy announcing a fourfold jump in its half-year profit on Thursday, sending its shares up to record their best session in nearly two years. The stock was, however, trading down 1.5% on Friday.

Gold stocks dropped 0.9%, set for their worst week since September 2022, as gold futures prices dropped. Top gold miner Northern Star Resources fell 1.4%.

Energy stocks were down over 1%, set for its worst week since mid-October.

On the other hand, healthcare stocks were up 0.5%, with biotechnology firm CSL trading 0.4% higher.

Real estate stocks were up 0.5%, set for third straight week of gains. Boral jumped as much as 12.8% in early trade to hit a record high, after reporting a positive half-year result and full-year outlook.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.3% to 11836.56. (Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)