Australia Market edges lower

Headline equities of the Australia stock market edged lower on Friday, 10 August 2018, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight amid rising global trade tensions. Among ASX sub-indexes, weakness in the shares of energy, industrials, and materials sectors were more than offset by gains in shares of financials, property trusts, healthcare, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary sectors. Around late afternoon, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 3.75 points, or 0.06%, to 6,293.90. The broader All Ordinaries Index edged down 1.58 points, or 0.02%, to 6,382.

Shares of banks and financials were higher. Among top four banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank were up in a range of 0.5% to 1%.

Shares of energy and material sectors extended losses due to rising global trade tensions and the overnight fall in crude oil prices. WTI crude declined $0.13 or 0.19 percent to close at $66.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a fresh seven-week low. Among oil stocks, Inpex and Japan Petroleum declined in a range of 0.5-4%. Among miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Fortescue Metals declined in a range of 0.1-0.3%. Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search were down in a range of 0.2% to 1%.

BHP Billiton said a federal court in Brazil has approved a settlement deal between its joint venture Samarco and Brazil authorities over a deadly 2015 dam collapse.

Among individual stocks: shares of REA Group rose after real estate giant's posted 23% jump in net profit on the back of 20% jump in revenue despite a housing slowdown for fiscal year ended June 2018.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was lower against greenback and other major currencies. The Australian dollar was quoted at US$0.7369, down from US$0.7431 on Thursday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed mixed on Thursday as lingering trade war concerns overshadowed largely upbeat corporate earnings news The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.52 points, or 0.29%, to 25,509.23 and the S&P 500 lost 4.12 points, or 0.14%, to 2,853.58, while the Nasdaq Composite added 3.46 points, or 0.04%, to 7,891.78.

The major European markets ended mixed on Thursday. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.09%. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks increased 0.02%, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.18%. The DAX of Germany climbed 0.34% and the CAC of France rose 0.01%. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.45% and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.33%.

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