The Australian share market has fallen away again at the end to close flat, as strong gains by miners and some energy companies offset losses among financial, property and consumer stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 0.04 per cent to close at 6,070.1 points on Friday, as gains in the energy, health and materials sectors were weighed down by weaker financials, consumer and real estate stocks.
CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said a positive lead out of the US and two sessions of sharp losses on Wednesday and Thursday should have lifted the market but lighter volumes and uncommitted trading scuppered momentum at the close.
"We're treading water at the moment and its shows a lack of enthusiasm, the fact that the last hour or two of trade the market gives back a lot of the improvements its recorded over the majority of the session," Mr Daghlian said.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto gained 2.2 per cent to $31.53 and 1.7 per cent to $80.62 respectively after iron ore spot markets rallied, hitting their highest level in more than 16 weeks and gaining nine per cent over the month.
BHP spinoff South 32 was up four per cent to $3.87.
The major lenders were weaker, with National Australia Bank flat at $29.53, while Westpac and Commonwealth Bank lost 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.
ANZ was down 21 cents, or 0.7 per cent to $28.52 after the bank finally walked away from a deal to sell its UDC Finance business to China's HNA Group, after the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office said it would block the deal in December.
The price of oil has nudged a three-year high on the back of unexpected US production restraint, helping Woodside Petroleum gain 0.8 per cent to $34.48 and Oil Search 1.5 per cent to $7.97, while Santos lost 0.7 per cent and Origin Energy lost 0.4 per cent.
Beach Energy gained nine cents, or 6.9 per cent, to $1.395 following an after-market announcement on Thursday of a potential South Australian gas field discovery.
Explosives supplier Incitec Pivot lost 4.2 per cent to $3.70 after warning that the end of a contract with Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore mine will strip more than $80 million from its full-year profits over the next four years.
Supermarket owners Wesfarmers and Woolworths were down one per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
JB Hi-Fi, up 13 per cent since November, has continued its Amazon-defying run, its shares gaining 37 cents, or 1.3 per cent to $28.36, following a JP Morgan analyst upgrade on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has given up some of the gains generated by Thursday's better-than-expected retail trade figures for November.
The local currency was trading at 78.85 US cents at 1630 AEDT on Friday, up from 78.74 on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 2.5 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 6,070.1
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 0.6 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 6,176.8 points
* The SPI200 futures contract was up five points, or 0.08 per cent, at 6,018 points
* National turnover was 4.1 billion securities traded worth $5.2 billion
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 78.79 US cents, from 78.74 on Thursday
* 87.65 Japanese yen, from 88.04 yen
* 65.42 euro cents, from 65.87 euro cents
* 58.17 British pence, from 58.33 pence
* 108.69 NZ cents, from 109.41 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,328.119 per fine ounce, from $US1,317.78 per fine ounce on Thursday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2.026pct, from 2.0335pct
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.6995pct, from 2.6814pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.245 (implying a yield of 2.755pct), from 97.265 (implying a yield of 2.735pct) on Thursday
* March 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.830 (2.170pct), from 97.825 (2.175pct)
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)
Wall Street continued its rally on Friday with record closing highs as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks and robust retail sales drove investor optimism about economic growth.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both registered their eighth record closing highs out of the first nine trading days of 2018, while the Dow boasted its sixth closing high of the year.
JPMorgan, the biggest US lender by assets, said a US tax overhaul would help future profits by reducing its tax bill and stimulating more business. The bank's shares rose 1.7 per cent.
"The fact all the big money centre banks beat on the bottom line is a good omen for the rest of the earnings season," said William Lynch, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, in Hinsdale, Illinois.
Investors were also hopeful 2018 financial forecasts from US companies would beat Wall Street estimates as many analysts may not have tax savings fully reflected in their models as the tax bill was signed into law so late in December.
"I don't know how much of that is priced in right now," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "It seems like the economy is going OK, inflation is kind of nonexistent right now, wage growth is not an issue for most income statements, so what's not to like here."
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to increase on an average by 12.1 per cent in the quarter, with profit for financial services companies likely to increase 13.2 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.
BlackRock rose 3.3 per cent. The world's largest asset manager reported profit that beat estimates as investors flooded into the relatively low-cost funds.
While Wells Fargo earnings beat expectations, its shares slipped 0.7 per cent after it set aside $3.25 billion in the fourth quarter to cover legal expenses related to probes into its mortgage and sales practices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.46 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 25,803.19, the S&P 500 gained 18.68 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 2,786.24 and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.29 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 7,261.06.
For the week, the S&P rose 1.6 per cent, compared with the Dow's two-per cent rise and a 1.8-per cent advance in the Nasdaq.
The S&P consumer discretionary index jumped 1.3 per cent after retail sales data showed households bought more goods, suggesting the economy exited 2017 with strong momentum.
Amazon rose 2.2 per cent to breach $1,300 for the first time. It closed at $1,305.20.
Volume so far on US exchanges was 6.88 billion shares, above the 6.39 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Mid month brekkie - Baked Avocado Eggs (including a bit of bacon!) and an icy glass of Lychee Green Tea.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
