The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished Friday and the week down 2.1% after recovering most of the week’s losses on Thursday.
The selling pressure in the US flowed into the Australian session as investors remain fixated on the emerging threat to energy supplies along with the reduction in policy stimulus.
ASX banks lead sell-off
In Australia it was all about the banking sector on Friday, selling off by 2.8%, the worst of all sectors.
The weakness was driven by a 4.1% fall in Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), and a more than 2% drop from ANZ Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB).
Traders are clearly wary of the threat of APRA imposing borrowing limits in the coming months after residential property delivered a return of 20% over the last 12 months.
Materials also weakened another 1.8% even as the iron ore price gained 4.5% overnight, with Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) among the hardest hit, falling 6.9%.
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ASX travel sector on the up
The positive news came from the ASX travel and consumer sector, with Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) jumping 5.4% after the Prime Minister announced that international travel will be allowed from November for the vaccinated, despite many being unable to travel within Australia.
ASX 200 weekly movers
Over the week it was the energy sector delivering the only gain, up 5% with Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) topping the table, up 19.8%.
On the flip side, the ASX tech sector was the weakest, falling 6.2%, with NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) the biggest detractor as the data centre operator tumbled 12.7%.
ASX 200 today
ASX futures are looking promising, with the ASX 200 set to open in the green on Monday. This comes after all three US benchmarks finished higher on Friday. To find out more, check out my US stock market report.
