In US economic data, consumer sentiment rose from 58.2 to 59.5 in September (survey: 60). Net capital inflows rose from US$22.3 billion to US$153.5bn.

European sharemarkets were weaker on Friday. Delivery and logistic company, FedEx, withdrew its financial forecast after the close of US trade on Thursday. Shares in FedEx fell by 21.4% in US trade. Shares in Deutsche Post fell 6.6% in German trade. Also weighing on sentiment, the World Bank and IMF warned of an increased chance of
global recession. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.6%. The German Dax index fell by 1.7% and the UK FTSE index fell by 0.6%. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto rose by 0.3% while BHP fell by 0.7%.

US sharemarkets were weaker on Friday with investor sentiment dulled by the withdrawal of earnings guidance by FedEx. In response to the 21.4% fall in the FedEx share price, shares of United Parcel Service fell by 4.5%. Shares in Amazon fell by 2.2%. The Dow Jones Transport index fell by 5.1% with the energy sector down 2.2% and industrials down 2.1%. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index fell by 139 points or 0.5% after trading in a 317-point range. The S&P 500 index fell by 0.7% and the Nasdaq index fell by 104 points or 0.9%. Over the week the Dow Jones index fell by 4.1%; S&P 500 lost 4.8%; and Nasdaq lost 5.5%.

US treasuries were flat on Friday. The withdrawal of earnings guidance by FedEx provided hope that the current easing of economic conditions could lead to lower inflation. US 10-year yields were unchanged at 3.455%. And US 2-year yields were flat near 3.87%. Over the week US 10-year yields rose by 14 points and US 2-year yields rose by 31 points.

Major currencies rose against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from near US$0.9945 to highs near US$1.0035 and was near US$1.0015 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US66.70 cents to highs near US67.23 cents and was near highs at the US close. And the Japanese yen rose from 143.68 yen per US dollar to JPY142.84 and was near JPY142.91 at the US close.

 

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Global oil prices rose on Friday. Recession fears weighed on sentiment. But news of an oil spill at Iran’s Basra oil terminal supported oil prices. The Brent crude oil price rose by US51 cents or 0.6% to US$91.35 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price rose by US1 cent to US$85.11 a barrel. Over the week, Brent crude fell by US$1.49 or 1.6%. Nymex crude fell US$1.68 or 1.9%.

Base metals were mixed on Friday. Lead, aluminium and zinc fell as much as 1.7%. Other metals rose by up to 4.9% with nickel leading the way. Over the week, metals fell except zinc (flat) and nickel (up 5.5%).

The gold futures price rose by US$6.20 an ounce or 0.4% to US$1,683.50 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,675 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold fell by US$45.10 or 2.6%. Iron ore futures fell by US$1.52 or 1.5% to US$99.06 a tonne. Over the week, iron ore fell by US$3.17 or 3.1%. Ahead: In the US, the NAHB housing market index is released.

Originally published by CommSec