A relatively upbeat week for the ASX ended on a sour note on Friday, as banks capped a tough week with more losses.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 14 points, or 0.2 per cent at 5997 while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 9 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6087. The Australian dollar reached US76.71c.
Banks were lower on Friday, with CBA down 0.6 per cent at $79.94, ANZ down 1 per cent at $28.22, Westpac down 0.6 per cent at $31.37 and NAB lower by 0.4 per cent at $29.69. The sector fell 0.5 per cent over the week.
For the week, the S&P/ASX 200 made marginal gains, rising by just 2 points and ekeing out a fourth straight weekly advance.
AMP Capital's head of investment strategy Shane Oliver expects to see more gains for the Australian share market.
"We remain of the view that the broad trend in shares will remain up because we are still in the sweet spot in the investment cycle - with OK valuations, solid global growth and improving profits but still benign monetary conditions," he said.
The Australian property sector was the best performer over the week, rising 2.3 per cent. Deal speculation lit up the sector midweek after Westfield received a takeover bid from European property giant Unibail-Rodamco.
Westfield shares climbed 10.1 per cent to $9.35 during the week, while Scentre rose 1.6 per cent over the week to end at $4.29.
Miners also performed well over the five-day period, with the sector higher by 0.7 per cent.
Broker actions helped the sector, with Fortescue Metals up 6.6 per cent to $4.86 over the week after UBS upgraded the iron ore miner to buy on Wednesday.
On the downside, Retail Food Group lost 35.2 per cent to trade at $2.85 following a Fairfax Media investigation around its franchise model.
Myer also dropped heavily over the week, ending down 16.2 per cent at 65c after the department store operator revealed on Thursday that sales in the first few weeks of the crucial Christmas period had dropped five per cent.
Friday's big movers included Macquarie Atlas, which lost 3.8 per cent to $6.12 after Macquarie Group sold an 11.3 per cent stake at $6 a share.
Genworth fell 1.9 per cent to $3.06 with the firm updating investors on its net earned premium estimates.
Crown shares climbed 3.2 per cent to $12.85 after it announced a series of transactions, including the sale of a Las Vegas site for $264 million.
Transurban jumped 4.8 per cent to $12.80 after it revealed a high take up of its institutional offer and gross proceeds of $1.35 billion.
Stockwatch:
Retail Food Group was the standout mover this week, with the stock falling sharply on Monday and ending the week down 35.2 per cent at $2.85. The losses earlier in the week came after a Fairfax Media investigation revealed hundreds of Donut King, Brumby's and Gloria Jeans stores were going to the wall as a result of a brutal franchise model. The firm also faced claims it spies on franchisees and charges crippling costs, including franchise fees, which is driving the stable of brands to the ground. RFG shorts in late September reached a peak of about 14.7 per cent. Since then, it's hovered closer to 12 per cent, according to shortman.com.au. The company told the ASX its efforts to support franchisees, and its overall financial and operational performance, had not been "accurately reflected" in the Fairfax articles.
Movers
The Australian dollar held near a multi-week high on Friday, buoyed by positive economic news at home and market expectations for only gradual further rate rises in the United States. The Aussie dollar was firm at US76.71??, having stretched to a five-week peak of US76.80?? overnight. The currency was up 2 per cent on the week so far, with the US dollar undermined by a cautious outlook on inflation from the Federal Reserve. The Aussie has been underpinned by strong economic data with November jobs figures out on Thursday blowing past all expectations. The US currency has waxed and waned with the prospects for the Republicans' tax cuts, which may be voted on as early as next week.
Oil
Oil was on track for a third weekly drop as the International Energy Agency and OPEC forecast a boost in supply from outside the producer group next year, putting pressure on efforts to clear a global glut. While a surplus in developed markets has declined to the lowest in two years, new output from competitors including US shale might grow faster than demand in 2018, the IEA said on Thursday. OPEC said on Wednesday oil markets won't rebalance until late next year after increasing forecasts for supplies from its rivals. Brent for February settlement fell traded up 6 cents at $63.37 a barrel after climbing 1.4 per cent on Thursday.
Tankan
Big Japanese manufacturers' business confidence improved for a fifth straight quarter in the three months to December to hit a 11-year high on Friday, a central bank survey showed. The data may help the Bank of Japan make the case that strengthening economic recovery will prompt firms to raise wages and allow it to edge away from crisis-mode stimulus, even before inflation hits the central bank's elusive 2 percent target. The headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment stood at plus 25 in December, the BOJ's closely watched "tankan" survey showed on Friday, up from plus 22 in September and slightly higher than a median market forecast for plus 24.
Bitcoin
The exorbitant price gap between bitcoin futures and the underlying digital currency is beginning to dwindle. The spread between the two has narrowed by more than half, in a sign that the bitcoin futures market may be getting more efficient less than a week after the futures' debut on Cboe Global Markets. It cost about $414 more to buy the contract than to buy bitcoin on the spot market, a premium of 2.5 per cent. Earlier this week the futures were as much as 13 per cent more expensive than the digital currency, an unusually pricey premium that many investors deemed too steep to persist. The compressing premium comes as CME Group prepares to launch its own competing bitcoin futures product this weekend.
