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Wall St closed mixed on Friday as the S&P 500 finished the week at a record close. The Dow Jones fell 0.28%, the Nasdaq gained 0.81% and the S&P 500 rose by 0.25%.

Over in Europe, markets closed higher on Friday despite the latest political turmoil in France. The STOXX600 rose by 0.2% as investors digested news that a vote toppled the French Prime Minister’s government on Wednesday evening. Germany’s DAX rose by 0.13%, the French CAC jumped 1.31% and over in the UK the FTSE100 fell by half a percent.

Locally on Friday, the ASX200 closed 0.64% lower, with all but one major sector closing in the red. Losses were led by the energy and consumer discretionary sectors which fell by 1.21% and 0.94% respectively. This was offset by the utilities sector which rose by 0.39%.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall of 0.3% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is trading 1.61% lower at 67 US dollars and 20 cents a barrel, gold is trading 0.02% lower at 2633 US dollars an ounce and iron ore is trading over 2% lower at 104 US dollars and 11 cents a tonne.

Trading Idea:

• Bell Potter downgrades its buy rating to a hold for Resource Development Group (ASX:RDG) which has a current share price of 2.4 cents. A hold rating has been recommended as RDG’s share price has come under pressure following shareholder concern regarding parent entity Mineral Resources’ governance affairs.