Market wrap: our futures point to a weak start to trade after a slide on Wall Street on Friday. The US stock market has rallied more than 20 per cent since March 9, including gains of 6 - 7% last week, but the major indexes surrendered 2 - 2.5% on Friday. Losses were spread across most sectors, with financials and REITs notably weak.
Commodity prices were hit by strength in the US dollar. Gold lost 2%, recently trading near $923. Oil slid almost 4% to $52.38. Zinc held its ground after breaking to a six-month high last week, but other base metals were weaker.
Our market has rallied almost 17% in three weeks and looks overdue for a few days of consolidation, at the very least. There's nothing obvious in that US lead to propel us higher today, and the SPI closed down 37 points at 3640 at the end of US trading.
It will be interesting to see if this month's surge of optimism can survive the G20 summit and the temptation to take profits after a powerful three-week rally. Good luck to all.
