The ASX will start on a weaker note this morning after a mixed end to the week on Wall Street.
Eurozone shares fell 0.7% on Friday and the US S&P 500 lost 0.2% on the back of much weaker than expected US payroll data for February (but was down more during the session.
The weak global lead saw ASX 200 futures fall 14 points, or 0.2%, pointing to a weak start to trade for the Australian market today.
Friday’s weak trade data for China won’t help confidence either, but import data for key commodities was much stronger than many analysts thought.
Today’s expected dip will come after a very modest, 0.2% rise for the ASX 200 last week.
That small rise was all that was left for the week after Friday’s nasty 60 point, or 1% slump in the index which might very well be followed up with more selling as investors take fright at the news from China and big fall in stockmarkets there on Friday os 4%.
The ASX 200 Index rose 11 points, or 0.2%, to 6,203.8 last week while the All Ordinaries added 13.3 points, or 0.2%, at 6,287.1.
CSL led the market rise with a gain for the week of 1.9% to end at $199.41 – it topped the $200 a share for the first time since early October on Friday before drifting lower by the close.
NAB shares rose 1% after it announced that acting CEO, Phil Cronican (a former Westpac and ANZ executive) would be the bank’s next chair.
The other major banks fell, weighing on the wider market. ANZ fell 3.2%, Commonwealth Bank slid 1.6% and Westpac eased 0.1%.
Bellamy’s Australia rose 17.2% to $10.35 as optimistic investors punted that the company would get approvals from China to sell its products in that huge market.
BHP shares eased 0.8%, Rio shares lost 4.5%, Fortescue shares jumped nearly 9%, OZ Minerals shares were up 0.9% and shares in South 32 fell 3.3%.
If there are any concerns with the latest trade news from China, these big mining shares will be under pressure today.
