Investors will be looking at a modest start to the ASX today after Friday’s gains here and offshore.
But despite the solid nature of the gains, the overnight futures market had the ASX 200 up just 12 points at the start later this morning.
That was after eurozone shares and the US S&P 500 both rise 0.2% on Friday after the ASX ended 0.55% higher.
Comments by President Trump saying that a trade deal with China was “very close” helped support markets on Friday in the US.
But it was a different story for the week as US shares fell 0.3% and Eurozone shares eased 0.7%. Japanese shares dropped 0.8% and Chinese shares were down 0.7%.
The ASX 200 stood out with a fall of 1.2% and the decline was accentuated by accusations that Westpac breached anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws more than 23 million times which dragged financial shares down heavily (See separate story).
The index closed 0.55 percent higher at 6,709.8 on Friday.
Westpac shares lost 7% for the week and dragged the NAB (down 4.9%), CBA (off 1.3%) and ANZ (down 2.1%) lower as well.
Bond yields fell on the back of investor caution. Oil, copper and iron ore prices all rose but gold was easier and the Aussie dollar eased to 67.86 US cents.
On Wall Street on Friday the S&P 500 ended around 7 points higher, up 0.2%, while the Dow 107 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite added around 14 points to be up 0.2%.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, ending a run of six weekly gains. The Dow fell 0.5% while the Nasdaq drooped by 0.3%.
