Australian shares have had a flat final session to end the week slightly lower, as the Iran war and a tighter outlook for global interest rates kept investors subdued.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 1.2 points on Friday, down 0.01 per cent, to 8,731.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 12 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,922.9.
The top-200 shed 0.11 per cent in a fifth week of losses of the past six, making early August’s 9,296.7 record high seem like a distant memory.
Local mining stocks put up a fight in the final session before the weekend, with raw materials stocks up 1.4 per cent as copper and precious metals prices bounced from their recent sell-off.
However, banks and interest rate stocks dragged after Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock outlined a hard road ahead in the central bank’s inflation battle, as ongoing oil supply disruptions pressured price growth.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.26 US cents, up slightly from 71.17 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
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