ASX falls as materials drag
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended the week lower after a closed US market.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.12% to end at 7,822.3, despite six out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The worst performing sector was materials, down 0.5%, followed by financials (-0.45%). Large materials companies BHP (-1.21%), Fortescue (-1.28%) and Rio Tinto (-1.26%) all fell.
Boss Energy was the worst performer across the ASX, down 5.41% after Macquarie slashed its target price on the uranium producer due to delays to the ramp-up of its Honeymoon project in South Australia.
Ansell fell 1.88% after E&P Capital analysts downgraded the personal protective equipment manufacturer from 'neutral' to 'negative', warning it faced persistent "macro headwinds".
Santos shares fell 0.13% after Saudi Aramco denied media speculation that it was considering a takeover bid for the company.
The best performing sector was health care, up 0.74%, followed by telecommunication services (0.5%).
Magellan, up 4.63%, extended Thursday's gains on its performance fee increase but analysts were mixed with Macquarie believing it was still too early in the fund manager’s turnaround to step up to the plate.
Meanwhile, Suncorp ended 0.06% higher after receiving a price target upgrade from Morgan Stanley on better earnings quality and announcing it had renewed its reinsurance program.
The Australian dollar is higher buying 67.33 US cents.
The context: Tonight will see the latest US unemployment rate published while European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde speaks over the weekend at the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence.
Next week will see the Commonwealth Bank’s latest household spending figures that will give clues towards where inflation is heading.
