End-of-day summary:
Australian shares fell for the third week in four as the heavily-weighted materials sector tested its 2024 low.
The ASX 200 declined 25 points or 0.33% this afternoon to 7724. Today's fall, the benchmark's third in four sessions, extended its loss for the holiday-shortened week to 136 points or 1.73%.
Miners, energy producers and industrials accounted for much of the down-pressure this week as commodity prices wilted in the face of profit-taking, a bounce in the US dollar and doubts about Chinese demand. The materials and energy sectors both revisited their mid-March 2024 lows this session.
This week's loss came despite a string of records for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. While megacap tech stocks steered those indices ever higher, the ASX's performance has been nearer to that of the Dow, which has fallen for the last three nights.
At the Australian market close, US futures reflected the pattern this week: S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures up, Dow futures down.
