ASX 200 ends down 0.4% as Evergrande falls

Australia's sharemarket fell slightly at the end of a volatile week. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.4% at 7342.6 and suffered its first three-week fall in seven months.

Global markets have been focused this week on the fate of Chinese property developer Evergrande. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, September 24. Australian stocks turned down despite Wall Street rallying to notch up a second straight day of gains.

The Dow added 1.5 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.0 per cent. European markets were mostly stronger and oil prices rose.