Thanks @Trees, @Ravgnome and AM Loungers. Hope you're enjoying the World Cup even a tenth of what I am. A shock defeat of Germany by Mexico this morning and Brazil could only manage a draw against Switzerland. That Coutinho goal though was superb.
The Australian share market has closed at a four-week high after investors decided it was time to buy back into beaten-down banks, and the major miners and energy stocks made solid gains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 77.4 points, or 1.29 per cent, at 6,094.0 points
at 1630 AEST, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 75.7 points, or 1.23 per cent, at 6,205.3 points.
Shaw and Partners senior client adviser Craig Sidney said gains in energy and mining stocks helped boosted the local bourse on Friday, but the charge ahead was led by the banks.
"The banks have been hit quite hard recently so it's just a bit of recovery," Mr Sidney said.
He said the banks had been sold off recently because of concerns over the housing market and weak credit growth.
"I just think it's a bit of a bounce back, probably a bit of value in that sector," he said.
In the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank jumped 2.3 per cent to $68.98, National Australia Bank added 0.8 per cent to $26.16, Westpac improved 2.2 per cent to $27.90, and ANZ found 1.8 per cent at $26.68.
Mr Sidney said Woodside Petroleum's announcement that it has started additional liquefied natural gas production at its onshore facility near Onslow in Western Australia had helped lift energy stocks.
Woodside rose 1.6 per cent to $34.27, and Santos gained 2.7 per cent to $5.98.
A higher iron ore price and recent announcements on capital expenditure boosted the miners.
Rio Tinto ascended 1.3 per cent to $85.70, and Fortescue Metals strengthened 1.3 per cent to $4.71.
Global giant BHP Billiton picked up 18 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $33.56.
BHP on Friday announced plans to spend $3.9 billion on developing its majority-owned South Flank iron ore mine in the central Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Liver cancer treatment developer Sirtex Medical surged $1.36, or 4.6 per cent, to $31.00 after it accepted a $1.87 billion takeover bid from China's CDH Genetech after another suitor, Varian Medical Systems of the US, declined to match or beat CDH's offer.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar eased against the US dollar after the US Federal Reserve lifted interest rates and Australia's central bank shows no immediate sign of lifting rates here.
The Aussie was trading at 74.57 US cents at 1700 AEST on Friday, from 75.53 US cents on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed up 77.4 points, or 1.29 per cent, at 6,094 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 75.7 points, or 1.23 per cent, at 6,205.3 points
* The SPI200 futures contract was up 74 points, or 1.23 per cent, at 6,099 points
* National turnover was 3.6 billion securities traded worth $10.4 billion
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 74.57 US cents, from 75.53 on Thursday
* 82.60 Japanese yen, from 83.11 yen
* 64.46 euro cents, from 63.92 euro cents
* 56.34 British pence, from 56.35 pence
* 107.48 NZ cents, from 107.38 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,298.97 per fine ounce, from $US1,302.86 per fine ounce on Thursday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEST:
* CGS 4.50 per cent May 2021, 2.1219pct, unchanged
* CGS 4.75pct May 2028, 2.6956pct, unchanged
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* June 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.2925 (implying a yield of 2.7075pct), from 97.2725 (implying a yield of 2.7275pct) on Thursday
* June 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.85 (2.15pct), from 97.825 (2.175pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEST previous local session)
Wall Street stocks ended lower on Friday, capping a day of heavy trading with investors mostly pulling back from initial concerns over an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China.
U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled an initial list of strategically important goods that would be subject to a 25 percent tariff effective July 6, a move China’s Commerce Ministry called “a threat to China’s economic interest and security.”
China issued its own list of U.S. imports subject to tariffs, targeting soybeans, aircraft, autos and chemicals.
Since early May, the two countries have held several rounds of talks but have yet to reach a deal, as the United States pressures China to narrow a $375 billion trade deficit.
“A lot of people may have over-reacted at the very beginning of the day,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
“I don’t think a trade war is going to be inevitable,” Pavlik said. “I think (the president is) posturing, I think he’s chest-pounding, I think he’s doing exactly what he thinks he got elected to do.”
Friday also marked “quadruple witching day,” the quarterly simultaneous expiration of U.S. options and futures contracts, which tends to boost trading volume as investors replace expiring positions.
Volume hit the highest point since Feb. 8, when the S&P 500 sank to its lowest level of the year so far.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 84.83 points, or 0.34 percent, to 25,090.48, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.07 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,779.42 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 14.66 points, or 0.19 percent, to 7,746.38.
For the week, the Dow was down 0.9 percent while the S&P 500 rose 0.01 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.3 percent, its fourth consecutive weekly advance.
Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 six ended the day in negative territory.
The energy sector .SPNY was the biggest percentage loser, down 2.1 percent as oil prices LCOc1 tumbled more than 3 percent ahead of next week’s OPEC meeting.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.02-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 152 new highs and 40 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.9 billion shares, compared to the 6.9 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Australian shares are set for an uninspiring start to the week following falls across the United States and Europe, and amid the former's tariff tit-for-tat with China.
It means the local market will likely give back some of Friday's gains, after the benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed up 77.4 points, or 1.29 per cent, at 6,094.0, and the All Ordinaries index up 75.7 points, or 1.23 per cent, at 6,205.3 points.
"We had a good gain on Friday but it looks like we'll give back some of that on Monday. I would expect something like a 25 point, 30 point fall," CommSec chief economist Craig James told AAP on Sunday.
"There wasn't too much positive the late in the day on Friday. The US and China were trading blows in terms of threats for a tariff war.
"It's hardly the inspiring lead-in for out market."
However, Mr James said a softer Australian dollar, which was sitting around 74.4 cents, would offset some of the falls in commodity prices.
"It's the weakness of the currency which is the main positive element coming through."
Internationally, most of the interest will be on trade discussions between the US and China as well as Friday's meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC nations.
In local economic data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' house price index is set be released on Tuesday, with CommSec expecting a fall of 1.1 per cent over the March quarter.
The release of the Reserve Bank of Australia's June meeting minutes on Tuesday will be studied for an assessment of wages, inflation trends, housing market conditions and prospects of further tightening in lending standards.
A breakdown of jobs figures by industry and population data is also expected later in the week, with the latter likely showing annual growth of between 1.6 and 1.7 per cent, Mr James said.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
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