The local sharemarket will be starting in the red this morning after US markets faded on Friday night after choppy trading for most of the session.
Trading in the share futures contract ended with the ASX 200 showing a small nine point fall.
Futures markets were also mixed because the long weekend in the US tonight and London will constrain trading in Asia and Europe today and tomorrow.
A strengthening US dollar didn’t help either, with commodities off the pace.
But over the week there were gains in most regions – especially in China, but not in Hong Kong.
US shares gained 0.2%, Eurozone shares rose 2.5%, Japanese shares rose 2.7% and Chinese shares surged 8.1%, but the Hong Kong market was weaker as investors remained startled by the collapse in the share prices of three high flying Chinese companies.
Australian shares slipped 1.2% though as banks remained under pressure.
Bond yields around the globe rose slightly but remained below recent highs with the bond sell-off losing momentum.
The rise in $US also saw the $A fall 2.6%, which is good news for the RBA. The Aussie closed at 78.23 US cents.
US stocks weakened in late trading, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said in a speech she still expects the central bank to raise interest rates sometime this year.
The S&P 500 lost 4.76 points, or 0.2%, at 2,126.06, but rose 0.2% over the week. The Dow closed down 53.72 points, or 0.3%, lower at 18,232.02 and ended the week with an 0.2% loss.
And the Nasdaq ended the session 1.43 points lower at 5,089.36, but gained 0.8% over the week.
The ASX 200 Index closed on 5664.7 points, up by 0.04% on the day, but down by 1.2% for the week.
The All Ordinaries Index ended at 5668.2, also up by 0.04% on the day, but off 1.1% for the week.
Over the week, Westpac Banking Group dropped 1.5% to $32.56, National Australia Bank shares fell 3.7% to $33.23, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares fell 1.9% to $83.11 and the ANZ slumped 3.2% to $32.05.
BHP Billiton spin-off South32 closed on Friday at $2.31, up 12.7% for the week, about where they traded in Tuesday’s big rebound.
The big miners all posted losses for the week, with BHP Billiton losing 3.7% to $29.25, Rio Tinto l2.3% to $56.75, and Fortescue Metals Group which plunged almost 8% to $2.1.
A jump in iron ore prices on Friday night will help local investors today. The price rose 3.5% on Friday night to $US59.96 a tonne. But it still lost ground last week.
Talk of possible investor interest in Fortescue Metals Group- will also help buoy the sector today.
