End-of-day summary:
The share market drifted lower for a second day as mixed US leads, commodity price weakness and disappointing Chinese factory and housing data kept buyers on the sidelines.
The ASX 200 finished 24 points or 0.31% lower after a modest opening rally faded. Declines in tech and cyclical sectors outweighed gains in telcos, consumer stocks, healthcare providers and some of the banks.
China's industrial production last month grew just 5.6% year-on-year, down from growth of 6.7% in April and well short of the 6.2% forecast by economists. House prices suffered the biggest monthly decline in a decade, despite recent government moves to support the property market. Concerns about those reports were partly offset by 3.7% growth in retail sales, significantly ahead of expectations.
The S&P 500 finished 0.04% weaker on Friday, breaking a four-session run of record closes. The Nasdaq firmed 0.12% to a fifth straight closing high.
