At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 37.69 points, or 0.56%, to 6,708.22. The broader All Ordinaries shed 44.02 points, or 0.63%, to 6,959.59. The benchmark shed 0.9% for the week.
Most of sectors declined, with weak commodity prices prompted heavy selling in domestic energy and mining stocks. Energy sector heavyweight Woodside Petroleum was down 3.3%, the biggest loser in the sub-index, followed by Santos that lost 2.5%. Mining giant BHP Group and Rio Tinto declined up to 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
The major banks were also bruised amid the inflation jitters, Commonwealth Bank down 2.1% for the week, ANZ flat, and NAB down 0.7%. Westpac bucked the trend, adding 0.3%.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Retail Sales Down 1.1% On Month In February- Australia retail sales was down a seasonally adjusted 1.1% on month in February, coming in at A$30.192 billion, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, following the 0.3% gain in January. By industry, food retailing led the falls, down 3%. All states and territories saw a fall in Food retailing, although the industry remains 6.5% above the levels of February 2020. On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 8.7%.
CURRENCY NEWS: The US dollar traded down 0.13% at 91.738 against a basket of its peers. The Australian dollar rose 0.12% to $0.7765.
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