A very happy new year to all of you! Hope that 2018 is your best one ever. I trust that you are returning feeling refreshed and raring to go. Thought I'd go with a single thread today and if it becomes unwieldy, we could break it up a bit. Not sure if we have the usual thread openers back on deck. Sound okay?
Australian shares have closed lower on the last trading session for the year, with almost all sectors in negative territory.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 stock index was down 0.38 per cent at 6065.1 points, with the mining-related materials and healthcare sectors the only two to close higher.
The move meant the ASX200 gained seven per cent in 2017.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the share market has reversed gains it made the day before amid soft holiday trading volumes.
"We have seen a soft close to the year but this has been the case for at least the past three years," Mr Spooner said.
"The market has been in a neutral mode this week, while it's down today, it was up yesterday and the net effect of that is a sideways movement."
Mr Spooner said the Reserve Bank's private sector credit data released on Friday were in line with previous releases and expectations.
The lack of economic news and a lacklustre lead from Wall Street combined to lead the share market lower, he added.
A rise in commodity prices, including a modest lift in crude oil to near two-and-a-half year highs and a surge in copper which hit a four-year peak overnight, did bolster some miners and energy companies.
BHP Billiton gained 0.2 per cent to $29.57, Rio Tinto rose 1.2 per cent to $75.81, while Fortescue Metals was down 1.2 per cent at $4.88.
Among the energy companies, Santos was up 0.7 per cent, Oil Search edged 0.1 per cent higher, but Woodside Petroleum was 0.3 per cent lower and Origin Energy dropped 1.2 per cent.
The big four banks also weighed on the index with Westpac the worst performer, losing 0.6 per cent.
National Australian Bank was down 0.3 per cent, and Commonwealth Bank and ANZ each fell 0.2 per cent.
QBE shares lost 0.3 per cent, to $10.68, after the insurance giant announced it had agreed to pay $132.5 million to settle a class action launched by shareholders who were angry about a plunge in its share price in 2013.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was steady at a two-month high, hovering around 78 US cents after the greenback fell to a four-week low.
The local currency was up 0.06 cents from Thursday at 78.03 US cents at 1700 AEDT on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 23 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 6,065.1 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 22.1 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 6,167.3
* The SPI200 futures contract was down 25 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 6,021
* National turnover was 2.2 billion securities traded worth $2.8 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 78.03 US cents, from 77.97 cents on Thursday
* 87.94 Japanese yen, from 87.93 yen
* 65.31 euro cents, from 65.34 euro cents
* 57.97 British pence, from 58.02 pence
* 109.84 NZ cents, from 109.96 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,295.70 per fine ounce, from $USX per fine ounce on Thursday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2.Xpct, from 2.0736pct
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.Xpct, from 2.6419pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.34 (implying a yield of 2.66pct), from 97.305 (2.695pct) on Thursday
* March 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.84 (2.16pct), from 97.805 (2.195pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)
There were no fireworks on Wall Street for the last trading day of the year, as US stocks closed out their best year since 2013 on a down note, with losses in technology and financial stocks keeping equities in negative territory for the session.
Major indexes hit a series of record highs in 2017, lifted by a combination of strong economic growth, solid corporate earnings, low interest rates and hopes for a tax cut from US President Donald Trump's administration.
The benchmark S&P 500 surged 19.5 per cent this year, the blue-chip Dow Jones index 25.2 per cent and Nasdaq 28.2 per cent, as each of the major Wall Street indexes scored the best yearly performance since 2013.
The market has also remained resilient in the face of tensions in North Korea and political turmoil in Washington. The S&P 500 only saw four sessions all year with a decline of more than one per cent while the CBOE Volatility index topped out at 15.96 on a closing basis, well below its long-term average of 20.
"The real question is what happens as we head into 2018," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
"There is an awful lot of optimism built into share prices right now that could set us up for disappointment."
Among sectors, the technology index has been the best performer, up 37 per cent and led by a gain of 87.6 per cent in Micron Technology.
Telecom services, down 5.7 per cent, and energy , down 3.7 per cent, were the only two sectors to end the year in the red.
The rally is widely expected to extend into 2018, boosted by gains from a new law that lowers the tax burden on US corporations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 118.29 points, or 0.48 per cent, on Friday to close at 24,719.22, the S&P 500 lost 13.93 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 2,673.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 46.77 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 6,903.39.
Apple declined 1.08 per cent after issuing a rare apology for slowing older iPhones with flagging batteries.
Goldman Sachs lost 0.68 per cent after saying its fourth-quarter profit would take a $5 billion hit related to the new tax law.
Amazon fell 1.4 per cent after Trump targeted the online retailer in a call for the country's postal service to raise prices of shipments in order to recoup costs.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.91-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 20 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 4.94 billion shares, compared to the 6.4 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Let's start the year with a healthy breakfast of a Smoked Salmon and Avocado Omelette and especially for those needing to detox, a cleansing Celery Juice.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
