A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange ASX in central Sydney August 7, 2013.
A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
  • In US economic data, the consumer price index rose by 0.3% in July while the core rate (excludes food and energy) rose by 0.2%, both in line with forecasts. Housing starts rose by 9.8% to a 1.174 million annual rate in June, above forecasts for an annual rate near 1.11m. Building permits rose by 7.4%. But the consumer confidence index eased from 96.1 to 93.3 in July, below forecasts for a result near 96.1.
  • European shares were flat to slightly lower on Friday with investors dissecting earnings results and taking profits on gains recorded earlier in the week. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell by less than 0.1% with the German Dax down by 0.4% while the UK FTSE was down by 0.3%. In London trade mining shares were lower with BHP Billiton down by 0.6% with Rio Tinto down by 1.1%.
  • US sharemarkets were mixed on Friday. Shares In Boeing lost 1.1%, weighing on the Dow Jones index. But shares in Google rose by 16.3% after reporting solid advertising revenue growth. And shares in Facebook rose by 4.5% to record highs. The Dow Jones ended lower by almost 34 points or 0.2% but the S&P 500 rose by 0.1% while the Nasdaq gained 47 points or 0.9%. For the week, the Dow gained 1.8%, the S&P rose by 2.4% and the Nasdaq rose by 4.3%.
  • US treasury prices were mixed again on Friday in response to mixed economic data. US 2 year yields were up by 1 point to 0.67% while US 10 year yields were down by 1 point to 2.347%. Over the week US 2 year yields were flat while US 10 year yields fell by 10 points.
  • Major currencies eased against the greenback in European and US trade. The euro fell from highs near US$1.0905 to lows near US$1.0825 and ended US trade near the lows. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US74.10c to lows around US73.65c and ended US trade near the day's lows. And the Japanese yen held between 123.89 yen per US dollar and JPY124.14, ending US trade around JPY124.06.
  • World oil prices were mixed again on Friday. Expectations of increased oil exports from Iran were balanced against data showing that the number of oil rigs operating in the US rose last week. Brent crude rose by US18 cents or 0.3% to US$57.10 a barrel while US Nymex crude fell by US2 cents to US$50.89 a barrel. Over the week, Brent crude fell by 2.8% over the week while Nymex fell by 3.5%.
  • Base metal prices were mixed again on Friday on the London Metal Exchange. Tin rose by 4.6% and lead rose by 0.3% but other metals fell by up to 1.4%. Over the week metals rose up to 11.1%, led by tin. But copper lost 2.1% and aluminium fell by 0.2%. The Comex gold futures price fell by US$12.00 or 1.0% on Friday to US$1,131.90 per ounce. Over the week gold fell by US$26.00 or 2.2% Iron ore was unchanged at US50.00 a tonne on Friday. Over the week iron ore rose by US10c.

Ahead: In Australia the State of the States report is released and in the US no major economic data is scheduled.

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