In US economic data, the budget deficit widened from US$220 billion to US$430 billion in September (survey: -US$173.5bn).
European sharemarkets were mixed on Friday. Mainland European bourses were weighed down by poor earnings updates. Shares in Adidas fell by 9.5% after it cut its full year outlook. But the UK FTSE rose on the back of higher commodity prices and hopes for smaller rates hikes from global central banks. UK retail sales fell by 1.4% in September. The UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.4%. While the
continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.5% on Friday, it rose 1.3% over the week.
US sharemarkets rose on Friday on hopes for smaller interest rate hikes in coming months. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the US Federal Reserve will likely lift rates by 75 basis points on November 2 but then debate “whether and how to signal plans to approve a smaller rate increase in December.” Shares of Snap dropped 28.1% after posting slower revenue growth. After releasing
earnings, shares in American Express fell 1.7% and Verizon lost 4.5%. The Dow Jones index lifted by 749 points or 2.5%. The S&P 500 index gained 2.4%. And the Nasdaq index rose by 245 points or
2.3%. Over the week, the Dow rose by 4.9%; S&P 500 lifted 4.7%; and the Nasdaq gained 4.2%. It was the best week since June for all three major indexes.
US treasuries rose on Friday (yields lower) in response to the Wall Street Journal article. Short and longer-term yields had hit 15-year highs earlier in the session. US 10-year yields fell by 1 point to near 4.22%. And US 2-year yields fell by 13 points to near 4.48%. Over the week, US 10-year yields rose by 20 points while US 2-year yields fell by 1 point.
Major currencies were firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$0.9705 to highs near US$0.9866 and was near US$0.9860 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US62.10 cents to highs near US63.92 cents and was near US63.77 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen rose from 151.96 yen per US dollar to JPY146.26 and was near JPY147.64 at the US close.
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Global oil prices were firmer by up to 1.2% on Friday. Traders squared positions ahead of the weekend and a weaker greenback provided support for oil prices. A weaker US dollar lifts the purchasing power of buyers in European and Asia for dollar-denominated currencies. The Brent crude oil price rose by US$1.12 or 1.2% to US$93.50 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price added US54
cents or 0.6% to US$85.05 a barrel. Over the week, Brent crude rose by US$1.87 or 2.0% while Nymex crude lost US56 cents or 0.7%.
Base metal prices were lower by as much as 4.6% on Friday with tin down the most. But copper was the exception, up 1.0%. Over the week aluminium, lead and tin fell by 5.1%-7.9%. Copper and nickel
rose 0.9%. Zinc was flat.
The gold futures price rose by US$19.50 an ounce or 1.2% to US$1,656.30 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,657 an ounce at the US close. Over the week gold rose by US$7.40 or 0.4%.
Iron ore futures rose by US10 cents or 0.1% to US$94.86 a tonne. Over the week, iron ore fell by US$1.07 or 1.1%.
Originally published by CommSec
