Local stocks drop back from near record high

The local bourse has edged away from near-record highs as tech stocks dragged in wake of Wall St falls.

A person is reflected in a window as stock prices are seen at ASX in Sydney. Picture: AAP

The ASX pulled-back on Friday after hitting near-record highs on Thursday, following a drop in the major US indices which lost ground due to a string of disappointing profit results.

At the close of trade, the ASX benchmark S&P/ASX200 had lost 24.63 points, or 0.36 per cent to 6793.398 points, rounding out a 1.4 per cent gain for the week.

The broader All Ordinaries index had lowered 22.55 points, or 0.33 per cent to 6879.301 points.

“Share markets rose over the last week helped along by positive news on trade, a deal to resolve the US debt ceiling and reasonable US earnings,” said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.

“While Australian shares slipped on Friday, they rose through the week helped by the positive global lead with the All Ords finally surpassing its 2007 all-time high with strong gains in energy, consumer, industrial and financial shares.

“The focus in the week ahead will be back to inflation with June quarter CPI data on Wednesday likely to show that inflation remains soft.”

BHP added 0.6 per cent to $40.85 while Rio Tinto put on 2.1 per cent to $98.26. Fortescue rose 0.5 per cent to $8.29.

In financials, Westpac lost 1 per cent to $28.57 while ANZ backtracked 0.6 per cent to $27.78. Commonwealth Bank lowered 0.5 per cent to $82.59 while NAB slid 0.4 per cent to $28.49.

Telstra slid 1 per cent to $3.84.

Meanwhile ResMed soared to an all-time high during the session before closing up 5.6 per cent at $18.99. It came after the sleep device maker booked an 11 per cent lift in full-year revenue and flagged growth in the year ahead.

Nine Entertainment lifted during the session before closing flat at $2.00 after it welcomed a report the competition watchdog which recommended more accountability for how technology giants Google and Facebook prioritise news and advertising, as well as how they manage privacy details.

Automotive parts business GUD Holdings lost 4.9 per cent to $10.10 after it posted a slip in profit and flagged challenging business conditions ahead.

Tech was one of the worst performing sectors after Altium lost 2.3 per cent to $36.82 while Appen shed 2.1 per cent to $30.38. WiseTech Global dropped 0.2 per cent to $32.67 while Computershare was unchanged at $15.95.

The drop in the tech sector came after US technology stocks weighed on Wall Street overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index falling 1 per cent.

Elsewhere, Mineral Resources surged 8.3 per cent to $16.65 after it moved a step closer to completing the $US1.15 billion sale of a 50 per cent stake in its Wodgina lithium project.

Energy was one of the best performing sectors after oil prices eked out a small gain on Thursday night.

Origin Energy climbed 1.2 per cent to $7.85 while Santos rose 0.7 per cent to $7.13. Oil Search inched up 0.2 per cent to $7.06 while Woodside Petroleum edged 0.1 per cent lower to $34.34.

The Australian dollar was trading firmly lower at US69.42 cents in late trade.