The Australian share market has closed higher, after Wall Street rose on easing US-Russia tensions over Syria.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 13.6 points, 0.23 per cent, at 5,829.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 13.3 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,924.7 points.
For the week the S&P/ASX200 gained 0.7 per cent and the All Ords 0.6 per cent.
Macquarie Private Wealth division director Lucinda Chan said the market played catch-up after offshore gains during a volatile week.
"We are following suit but volatility will remain given the current tremendous global macro issues," Ms Chan said.
Wall Street lifted overnight on tech and bank stocks and the US dollar moved toward a five-week high after the US President tweeted that a military strike on Syria may not be as imminent as previously threatened and as investors looked forward to a bumper corporate earnings season.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said consensus expectations of a 17 per cent year-on-year rise in quarterly profit for S&P 500 stocks could be "too conservative" given that new US tax cuts could lift profits by up to 20 per cent.
Ms Chan said a rise of that magnitude could prompt aggressive US rate hikes.
"And that could dampen profit expectations out of our markets... recent sell-offs are a timely reminder to all of us that volatility remains and will be a key feature in this market for a while," Ms Chan said.
In local news, free-to-air broadcaster Seven West Media was the big mover, climbing 6.5 cents, or 12.6 per cent, to 58 cents after winning Australian cricket broadcast rights in a $1.2 billion, six-year joint bid with pay-TV operator Foxtel.
Nine Entertainment ended flat at $2.25 after losing the sport it has broadcast for four decades.
Rio Tinto led gains among the miners, up two per cent to $78.21, as iron ore futures gained ground.
BHP Billiton rose 0.3 per cent to $29.73 and Fortescue Metals added two per cent, to $4.54.
Shares in the bauxite miner and aluminium producer Alumina, were up 2.8 per cent to $2.59 as sanctions against Russian aluminium giant Rusal continued to help push aluminium prices on to five year highs.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum dropped 0.5 per cent to $30.32, Santos fell one per cent to $5.91, and Oil Search improved 0.4 per cent to $7.62, after oil prices retreated slightly from near-2014 highs after the Trump missile threats towards Syria were walked back.
The major lenders were mixed with ANZ down 0.4 per cent to $26.71, Westpac losing 0.2 per cent to $28.89 and National Australia Bank dropping 0.7 per cent to $28.52.
Commonwealth Bank gained 0.1 per cent to $73.16 as it was announced the bank's financial advice arm would pay $3 million in penalties for failing to provide advice to customers who had been charged for the service.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has gained against the US dollar and at 1630 AEST on Friday, the local currency was worth 77.93 US cents, up from 77.48 US cents on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 13.6 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,829.1 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 13.3 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,924.7 points
* The SPI200 futures contract was up 19 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,816 points
* National turnover was 3.1 billion securities traded worth $4.8 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 77.9 US cents, from 77.48 on Thursday
* 83.82 Japanese yen, from 82.81 yen
* 63.22 euro cents, from 62.69 euro cents
* 54.67 British pence, from 54.64 pence
* 105.45 NZ cents, from 105.10 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,337.048 per fine ounce, from $US1,350.249 per fine ounce on Thursday
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEST:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2.0745pct, from 2.0286pct on Thursday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.7021pct, from 2.6330pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* June 2018 10-year bond futures contract was 97.255 (implying a yield of 2.730pct), from 97.325 (2.675pct) on Thursday
* June 2018 3-year bond futures contract was 97.78 (2.200pct), from 97.83 (2.17pct)
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEST previous local session)
Well - that WAS the news BEFORE the Syria strikes became a reality.
Australian markets are expected to open slightly lower after the US-led attacks on Syria and much of the focus in the coming week will be on overseas events and data.
Share futures were down six points after the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday closed 13.6 points, or 0.23 per cent higher, at 5,829.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries ended up 13.3 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 5,924.7 points.
US shares also fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5 per cent, the S&P 500 losing 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.5 per cent.
"Investors will be a bit on edge," AMP Capital's chief economist Shane Oliver said on Sunday.
When markets open on Monday, Dr Oliver is tipping a fall of about 0.1 per cent or more.
CommSec chief economist Craig James expects movement away from mining and energy shares towards telcos, the Japanese Yen and gold.
At the start of the week, the focus will be on US retail figures, due on Monday, and Chinese growth data that's due on Tuesday.
Chinese growth will likely remain around 6.8 per cent, in line with market expectations, Dr Oliver said.
US retail numbers are forecast for a slight rebound after a soft start to the year, with strong jobs growth also helping increase spending, he said.
The RBA will on Tuesday release the minutes of its monthly policy meeting and cash ratedecision, after it left with the cash rate at a record low of 1.5 per cent.
Australian employment figures are due to be released on Thursday and both Dr Oliver and Mr James are predicting a gain of about 20,000 jobs, and for the unemployment rate to be around 5.5 per cent.
Investors will also be watching for further information about US and Chinese trade deals.
The Australian dollar is expected to hover between 76.00 US cents and 78.00 US cents.
Financial stocks led a drop on Wall Street on Friday as results from big banks failed to enthuse and fear of broader conflict in Syria further unnerved investors.
The S&P banks index fell 2.6 percent and the broader S&P financial index lost 1.6 percent, the most among the 11 major S&P sectors.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, dropped 2.7 percent after the bank’s quarterly profit fell slightly short of expectations. JPMorgan shares were the biggest weight on the S&P 500.
Wells Fargo sank 3.4 percent after the bank said it may have to pay a penalty of $1 billion to resolve investigations, while Citigroup dropped 1.6 percent despite beating profit estimates.
Weak loan growth weighed on bank shares, said RJ Grant, head of trading at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York.
“If you didn’t own financials going into the quarter, there was nothing in the numbers today that would make you excited about owning them,” Grant said.
U.S. stocks extended losses on Friday after the State Department said that it had proof that Syria carried out a recent chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma.
The renewed possibility of a strike in Syria “is enough to cause heartburn for the market,” said Robert Phipps, a director at Per Stirling Capital Management in Austin, Texas. “There’s a ton of uncertainty right now so investors don’t want to go into the weekend particularly long.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 122.91 points, or 0.5 percent, to 24,360.14, the S&P 500 lost 7.69 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,656.3 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 33.60 points, or 0.47 percent, to 7,106.65.
Still, for the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.99 percent, the Dow gained 1.79 percent, and the Nasdaq added 2.77 percent.
Friday’s bank results kicked off earnings season, with Thomson Reuters data predicting profits at S&P 500 companies increased by 18.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, their biggest rise in seven years.
While the U.S. economy is performing well, geopolitical issues are weighing on stock markets this year.
Senior Russian lawmakers said on Friday that the lower house of parliament would consider draft legislation giving the Kremlin powers to ban or restrict a list of U.S. imports, reacting to new U.S. sanctions on Russian tycoons and officials.
Boeing fell 2.4 percent after a Russian lawmaker said the country may stop supplying titanium to the company.
Issues with engines for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes also weighed on the company’s shares.
The top gainer among S&P sectors was energy, up 1.1 percent as oil prices rose.
Tesla rose 2.1 percent after founder Elon Musk said the electric car maker would be profitable in the third and fourth quarters and would not need to raise any money this year.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.28-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.64-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.78 billion shares, compared to the 7.22 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
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