ASX200 falls as the market waits for key US data

The Australian sharemarket traded relatively flat on Friday as the market waits for a key piece of data that could determine when the US Fed will cut interest rates.

It was a mixed day for the Aussie market as investors digest key data out of the US as well as the impact of the upcoming tariffs on global economies.

The benchmark ASX 200 index was relatively flat on Friday, to close down 9.3 points or 0.1 per cent at 8511.4 points.

Meanwhile the broader All Ordinaries closed down just 4.80 points or 0.05 per cent to 8,780.30.

The Aussie dollar slid slightly down 0.1 per cent to 62.79 US cents.

On the local market six of the 11 sectors rose, led by information technology, consumer staples and the materials sector.

Despite more sectors rising, the market still fell, as energy and healthcare lost more than 1 per cent during Friday’s trading.

On a mixed day on the market six of the 11 sectors finished higher. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

The Index see-sawed throughout the trading day as investors await the US January jobs report to be released on Saturday morning Australian time.

Capital.com senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said “economists are essentially forecasting a Goldilocks print, with the economy projected to have added 169,000 jobs in January and an unemployment rate that remained unchanged at 4.1 per cent and wage growth that moderated to 3.8 per cent.”

It was a strong day for the big four banks. CBA rose slightly by 0.018 per cent to hit a fresh record high of $162.97. Westpac also reached a new fresh record high of $34.17 while NAB hit a fresh 18-year high of $40.70, after growing 0.79 per cent on Friday. ANZ also had a strong day up 0.19 per cent to $31.01.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the dominant narrative on the market throughout the week remained tariffs.

US President Donald Trump this week slapped 10 per cent tariffs on China which is much lower than the 60 per cent he had threatened during the campaign.

But the US also paused 25 per cent tariffs for Canada and Mexico for a month, giving investors hope the same could happen with China.

Economist Shane Oliver said markets were still waiting on clarity on the impacts of tariffs. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

“It’s not a big weekly fall. We were at a record last Friday so for all intents and purposes we are still around record highs despite the tariff uncertainties,” Dr Oliver said.

“The other thing which impacted our market was the bond yield aspect. Scott Bessent, who is the treasury secretary in the US said he and Trump wanted to lower bond yields and that led to a fall in yields.

“This had a flow on effect to markets including Australia as it helped improve valuations” he said.

In company news, shares in pizza retailer Domino’s soared on Friday after announcing a plan to close 200 of its underperforming stores. Shares popped 21.30 per cent to $35.93 on the news.

Domino’s confirmed in a statement to the ASX it was closing more than 200 stores, including one in six of its outlets in Japan, in a bid to reduce the number of loss-making restaurants amid investor disquiet and falling sales.

The store shutdowns would trigger a near-$100m cost for Domino’s but generate cost savings for the group from the 2026 financial year.

Collins Food also jumped 12.69 per cent to $8.35.

Originally published as ASX200 falls as the market waits for key US data