Thanks @Quantum Torus@Ravgnome and AM Loungers. And a special thank you to @Endless and @RockstarJones who did a very fine job of subbing in for me whilst I was enjoying a little break. Might have to schedule another one in sooner rather than later knowing you are all in good hands.
Relieved that the English Premier League season has begun and my World Cup Aftermath depression has eased. Liverpool leading the way on goal difference. That's gotta stop.
Australian shares have suffered a late slide with energy and materials stocks falling, while the Aussie dollar has hit its lowest level since January, 2017, as worries about eurozone bank stability trigger a risk-off flight to the greenback.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 19.3 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 6,278.4 points on Friday while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 16.8 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 6,366.8 points.
In futures trade the SPI200 Futures Index was down 20 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 6,219 points.
For the week the S&P/ASX200 gained 0.7 per cent.
The Australian dollar was at 73.17 US cents at 1700 AEST, down from 74.31 US cents on Thursday to a 19-month low as investors flocked to the safe-haven US dollar.
NAB head of FX strategy Ray Attrill said the Aussie's punishment was fallout from a global risk-off rush to the greenback triggered by a report that eurozone banks could be overly exposed to the tumbling Turkish lira.
The Turkish lira hit an all-time low on Friday after a meeting the day before between a Turkish delegation and US officials in Washington yielded no apparent solution to a diplomatic rift over the detention in Turkey of a US pastor.
A report in the Financial Times on Friday afternoon flagged concerns about the exposure of EU banks to Turkish debt.
On the ASX on Friday, the energy index lost 1.8 per cent with crude prices pressured by worries over demand fuelled by China-US trade dispute concerns.
Front-month Brent crude oil futures were trading at $US71.91 per barrel at 1707 AEST, down 0.22 per cent from their last close.
Beach Energy dropped 3.5 per cent to $1.92 and led losses on the energy sector.
With reporting season ending its first week, baby goods retailer Baby Bunting soared 38.5 per cent to $2.41 after flagging improved trading in 2018/19 despite a 29 per cent drop in full-year profit.
Online real estate giant REA Group lifted 3.6 per cent to $85.30 after showing a 23 per cent lift in full-year net profit to $280 million.
James Hardie shares dropped 6.6 per cent to $21.70 as the building supplies group gave guidance for its 2018/19 adjusted operating profit below the average of analyst expectations.
"With rising (US) interest rates, it is going to get harder for them going forward and so the market is reading into that," said Mathan Somasundaram, market portfolio strategist at Blue Ocean Equities.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 19.3 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 6,278.4 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 16.8 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 6,366.8 points.
* The SPI200 futures contract was down 21 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,218 points at 1630 AEST.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 73.17 US cents, from 74.31 US cents on Thursday
* 81.217 Japanese yen, from 82.503
* 63.83 euro cents, from 64.04
* 57.22 British pence, from 57.72
* 110.94 NZ cents, from 111.55
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US per fine ounce, down from $US1,213.848 per fine ounce on Thursday.
U.S. stocks slid on Friday as a deepening economic crisis in Turkey dragged on bank shares and triggered a move out of riskier assets.
The Dow and S&P 500 posted declines for the week following five straight weeks of gains, but the S&P 500 remains just 1.4 percent below its record high from Jan. 26.
A drop in technology shares added to the day’s bearish tone. The S&P technology index .SPLRCT fell 0.8 percent.
A slump in the Turkish lira TRYTOM=D3 worsened after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the country.
Investors fled to safe-haven assets, pushing the dollar .DXY higher and weighing on U.S. bond yields US10YT=RR.
“It was a classic risk-off move,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in New Jersey. “You worry about the collateral damage. You worry about the effects on Europe. You have banks losing because the 10-year U.S. Treasury (yield) came down.”
The S&P financial index .SPSY fell 1.2 percent, among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 196.09 points, or 0.77 percent, to 25,313.14, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 20.3 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,833.28 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 52.67 points, or 0.67 percent, to 7,839.11.
For the week, the Dow fell 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 0.3 percent. The Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent for the week after strong gains in some technology shares.
“Any time that there’s any movement in currencies, financials tend to reap the contagion risks,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia.
Shares of trade-sensitive companies also declined, including Boeing (BA.N), 3M (MMM.N) and Caterpillar (CAT.N), which were all down at least 1 percent.
Tesla (TSLA.O) shares ended up 0.9 percent. The number of Tesla shares sold short rebounded and are now higher than before Chief Executive Elon Musk on Tuesday proposed taking the electric car maker private, according to data from financial technology and analytics firm S3 Partners.
Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer prices rose in July and the underlying trend continued to strengthen, pointing to a steady increase in inflation pressures.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.10-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 87 new highs and 102 new lows.
About 6.7 billion shares changing hands on U.S. exchanges. That compares with the 6.4 billion-share daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data
Australian stocks are set for a volatile start to the week following US and European falls over concerns about the Turkish currency.
"We've already seen a bit of a reaction on our market, perhaps in anticipation of what we saw in Europe and the US, and that probably explains why our futures market was actually able to rise slightly," AMP Capital's chief economist Shane Oliver told AAP.
"We'll probably have a bit of a gain at the start, maybe 10 points, but I think those worries about Turkey and flow-on to European banks and other emerging markets will probably linger,' Dr Oliver added.
The Turkish Iira hit an all-time low on Friday following an ongoing diplomatic stand-off with the US over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges.
Amid the stoush, US President Donald Trump has doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium imports.
In response to the volatility, the Australian dollar took a hit on Friday night and dropped to levels last seen in early 2017, at one point dipping below 73 US cents.
Local stocks are in for a "fairly volatile day" on Monday, Dr Oliver said.
"And even if we do open positively, we might come off a bit again."
Financial results are this week expected from companies including Bendigo Bank, BlueScope, JB Hi-Fi, Telstra and IAG.
The National Australia Bank's business survey on Tuesday is expected to reveal confidence remaining fairly solid, Dr Oliver said.
"Consumer confidence may be of more interest on Wednesday, though. It had a good bounce is July ... the focus will be on whether a recovery in consumer confidence continues."
He added quarterly wages data would probably show growth staying around 2.1 per cent on an annual basis.
Meanwhile, a gain of around 10,000 jobs and an unemployment rate remaining at 5.4 per cent was expected to emerge from Thursday's employment figures.
Back in the US, retail sales on Wednesday would reveal "pretty solid growth, with housing data remaining fairly solid.
A pick up in retail sales and industrial production was expected from Chinese economic data on Tuesday, alongside fairly soft investment figures.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Brought you back some wine from the Yarra Valley to enjoy with breakfast this morning. Just one glass per person. We don't want to be making inebriated decisions.
In consideration of others, PLEASE include the STOCK CODE in all your posts.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
