US shares were mostly flat to down over the last week and in fact ended trading on Friday off the pace and looking a touch fragile.
US markets are now back to being worried about the usual headline ‘rate rise looms’ with Fed chair, Janet Yellen due to make a major speech this Friday night, our time at a Fed conference.
Oil continued its second rebound in three months and oil stocks were boosted as a result and stood out on Friday.
Eurozone shares fell 0.8% on Friday as worries about Italian banks, the upcoming Italian Senate referendum and the risk of another Spanish election weighed and the US markets softened.
Reflecting this soft global lead ASX 200 futures fell 6 points or 0.1% overnight Friday, pointing to a soft start to trade for the Australian share market later this morning.
Over the week, Chinese shares gained 2.2%, US shares were flat, Eurozone shares lost 2% (reversing some of the gains of the previous week), Japanese shares fell 2.2% and Australian shares eased by just 0.1%.
Except in Australia, bond yields rose as some Fed officials indicated a September Fed rate hike was “possible,” but the $US fell, which in turn saw commodites stronger, with oil helped by optimism of a supply cutback (see commodities report).
The $A fell slightly, but remains well over 76 US cents.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1% to 2,183.87 in New York.
The benchmark has now gone 30 days without a 1% move in either direction, which Reuters points out is the longest since 2014.
The Dow lost 45.13 points, or 0.2%, to 18,552.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than 0.1%.
For the week, the S&P 500 ended where it started, and the Dow industrials posted a weekly drop of 0.1% and Nasdaq was down as well.
Asian markets ended mixed last week, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 ending 0.4% higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished 0.4% lower and the ASX 200 was up 0.3%.
European stocks fell on Friday and booked firm weekly losses.
