By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was down 44.10 points or 0.59% to 7,469.30 in Friday’s deals amid much lighter than usual holiday volumes, with the market set to close two hours earlier than usual ahead of the New Year’s public holiday on Monday.
ASX 200 Futures were 0.59% lower.
Among stocks, Gold miners lifted as prices neared fresh 5-week highs, with Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) up 1.53%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) adding 1.94%, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) up 1.55%, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) adding 1.16%, Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) gaining 1.49%. Other miners also saw solid performances, as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) gained 0.48%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifted 0.94%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) added 0.56%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) lifted 1.52%, Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) surged 9.71%, and Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX:SLR) gained 1.74 while Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) and BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) lost 1.25%, and 0.43% respectively.
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) was 0.1% lower after advising yesterday that the Malaysian permanent disposal facility for Water Leach Purification residue has received environmental approval from the relevant Malaysian regulatory authorities.
Major technology companies moved lower as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell 0.53%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) lost 0.65%, Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) shed 0.85%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) lost 0.26%, Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) fell 0.72% and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) dipped 0.23%.
Financials were also in the red as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) fell 0.63%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) dipped 0.61%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 0.62%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) shed 0.99%, and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) eased 0.33%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 1.632% while United States 10-Year rates held around 1.507%.
Among currencies, the Australian Dollar was flat near 5-week highs of 0.72493 while the US Dollar Index was near 2-week lows of 95.99.