ASX steady; Westpac, NAB up RBA rate peak; IAG profit at $347m

ASX closes flat as real estate jumps and energy drops. Zip surges, travel stocks waver, Westpac and NAB up RBA rate peak, Brickworks record earnings and D&D's Link deal faces opposition.

Equity investors brace for potential eurozone crisis as US earnings indicate corporate resilience ahead of its possible slowdown. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, July 22. The Australian sharemarket posted its best week since mid-March as it closed the session flat.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 2.8 points lower to 6791.50 with eight of the 11 sectors in the red. For the week, the benchmark index gained 2.8 per cent - its best since mid-March.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5 per cent higher while the S&P 500 gained 0.9 per cent and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index by 1.4 per cent.

US 10-year yields fell to near 2.88 per cent while 2-year yields dipped to near 3.09 per cent.

Oil prices fell with global benchmark Brent crude down 2.9 per cent to $US103.86 per barrel and US Nymex off 3.5 per cent to $US96.35.

Iron ore futures price fell 0.7 per cent to $US103.36 per tonne.

The Aussie dollar was near US69.25c at the US close.