Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) and ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) indices finished lower on Friday.
Here's a quick recap of the Aussie market:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down 1.4%
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) down 1.3%
- AUD/USD at US 79.77 cents
- Gold at US$1,265 an ounce, up 0.75%
- Oil at US$49.15 a barrel, up 0.8%
Weighing on the market were shares in the major banks:
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) – down 1.5%
- Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) – down 1.7%
- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) – down 2%
- National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) – down 1.8%
The catalyst behind their selloffs appears to be some weak overnight leads from US markets.
Also amongst the worst-performing blue chips were healthcare companies CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC), which fell more than 2% following the US Senate's decision to knock back a repeal of Obamacare.
Donald Trump just reacted on Twitter (hint: he's not happy!)…
3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
At the other end of the ASX, shares of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) jumped 3.4%. Further down the market, Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW) rose 2.8%.
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