End-of-day summary:
The share market fell narrowly short of an 11th straight gain but finished a positive week within touching distance of an all-time high.
The ASX 200 trimmed a 37-point opening dive to three points or 0.04% at the close. Declines in resource producers, tech stocks and utilities outweighed slender gains in defensive sectors, including consumer staples, telcos, REITs and healthcare. Today's setback clipped the index's gain for the week to 53 points or 0.66%.
The market's longest winning streak since 2015 may have ended this afternoon, but the two-week recovery carried the index back to within 100 points of its record close on the first of the month.
US stocks took a step back overnight as traders reduced their exposure ahead of a speech tonight by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that could put paid to hopes of a bumper 50 basis point rate cut next month. The S&P 500 eased 0.89%.
