The Australian share market has been dragged down by miners, while shares of Facebook owner Meta Platforms and online giant Amazon have slumped as inflation takes a bite out of their profits.
The ASX fell for the first trading session in four days, after tech giants weighed on Wall Street and iron ore prices slumped on worries about steel demand.
Iron ore futures in Singapore fell below $US80 a tonne on Friday.
Big miners pulled the market down, with BHP (-4.9 per cent), Rio Tinto (-4.6 per cent) and Fortescue Metals (-8.3per cent) in the red.
The Australian dollar was steady, at 64.50 US cents at 4:40pm AEDT, after falling from above 65 US cents overnight on the lower iron ore prices.
Gold stocks fell on a drop in the price of gold, and oil prices lost ground on Friday after rising overnight.
The All Ordinaries index lost 1 per cent, to 6,974, while the ASX 200 index fell 0.9 per cent, to 6,786.
Of the 11 industry sectors, six ended higher, with gains led by education, utility and real estate firms.
All the big banks rose, with ANZ (+0.9 per cent) doing the best.
Financial firm Macquarie Group initially jumped after it said its half-yearly profit increased from $2 billion a year ago to $2.31 billion for the six months to the end of September.
It ran out of steam and ended the day steady.
The bank's earnings were boosted by volatile commodity prices and supply chain disruptions, but its earnings were weaker at its capital arm, which runs share sales for other businesses.
In regulatory news, John Lonsdale will replace Wayne Byres as the chairman of the banking regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Mr Lonsdale has been the deputy chair of APRA since 2018.
Logistics firm Qube Holdings (+5.1 per cent) was the best performer on the ASX 200 index, while technology company Brianchip Holdings (-21.2 per cent) was the worst.
Asian shares were also in the red, with the selling resuming in Hong Kong (-3.6 per cent) and Shanghai (-1.6 per cent) on worries that Chinese President Xi Jinping's policies will slow down the Chinese economy.
Business inflation rises
Business inflation increased from July to September, with prices received by producers up 1.9 per cent over the quarter, and by 6.4 per cent from last year.
CommSec said that was a 24-year high, with the biggest price increases in the freight and transport industries.
Home and engineering construction and the cost of electricity, gas and water drove the rise in business costs.
Economists surveyed by Reuters think the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise interest rates again next week by 0.25 percentage points to 2.85 per cent to curb inflation.
Facebook fails
The world's biggest technology companies have disappointed investors this week, with slowing growth and higher costs.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms saw its shares fell by nearly 25 per cent as it forecast a weak fourth quarter and significantly more costs next year.
The technology giant is grappling with slowing global economic growth, competition from TikTok, privacy updates by Apple, concerns about its spending on the metaverse, and growing regulation.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg wants to create a metaverse — an interactive network of virtual worlds — where people will be able to connect using virtual reality and other technologies.
The company's Reality Labs Unit — which is developing virtual reality and augmented reality technologies — has lost $US9.4 billion so far this year.
Meta Platforms' revenue fell for the second quarter in a row, and quarterly profit fell by half to $US4.4 billion.
Average price per ad declined by 18 per cent over the third quarter compared to a year ago.
Amazon hit
Retail and tech giant Amazon saw its shares plunge by as much as one-fifth in extended trade on Wall Street, as its earnings and revenue came in worse than expected over the September quarter.
That could see the company's market value fall below the $US1 trillion mark in tonight's trading session.
Its quarterly net income fell to $US2.9 billion from $US3.2 billion a year ago.
Amazon also forecast weaker sales for the holiday season.
The company's chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, said Amazon was bracing for slower economic growth, like most companies.
"We are seeing signs all around that, again, people's budgets are tight, inflation is still high, [and] energy costs are an additional layer on top of that," he said.
"This is uncharted waters for a lot of consumers' budgets."
He said European consumers had spent less than those in the US, due to high energy and fuel costs caused by the war in Ukraine.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (+7.7 per cent) reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, and fast food chain McDonalds (+3.3 per cent) also reported better-than-expected sales estimates.
The Dow Jones index rose 0.6 per cent, to 32,033, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent, to 3,807, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 per cent, to 10,793.
Gross domestic product data for the September quarter showed that the US economy returned to growth from July to September.
It expanded 2.6 per cent over the year to September, compared to a 0.6 per cent contraction in the June quarter, reflecting increases in exports and consumer spending.
Apple's record sales
Despite the economic gloom, tech giant Apple had a better quarter than its rivals.
It posted record quarterly revenue from July to September of $US90.1 billion, up 8 per cent from the same time a year ago, as it sold more laptop computers and a record number of iPhones.
However, it said that it expected revenue growth to fall from now to December.
Apple's chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, said higher computer sales also reflected the completion of a back log of orders, caused by a prolonged shutdown at one of the factories that makes Apple Mac computers.
"Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively in spite of a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop," he said.
"We did better than we anticipated, in spite of the fact that foreign exchange was a significant negative for us."
The higher greenback has hurt many companies, including Apple, making their products more expensive when bought outside of the US.
Credit Suisse
Troubled investment bank Credit Suisse announced it would slash 9,000 jobs and restructure as it battles to stay afloat amid a series of scandals.
The Swiss bank lost $US4.1 billion over the third quarter.
It plans to raise $US6.2 billion by selling shares to investors, including the Saudi National Bank, and sell assets, including its trading business, while shifting its focus from investment banking towards wealthy clients.
Its investment banking and advisory business will be spun off into to a new business under the CS First Boston brand.
The bank's reputation has been tarnished by scandals, including a prosecution in Switzerland for laundering money for a criminal gang.
It also took losses from the collapse of the US investment firm Archegos and UK supply chain financier Greensill.
ECB rate hike
European shares came off their lows and ended mixed after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised key interest rates by an expected 0.75 per cent, the highest level since 2009.
The move brings the benchmark deposit rate to 1.5 per cent and the main refinancing rate to 2 per cent.
Inflation across the euro area is running at nearly 10 per cent annually, amid the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
ECB president Christine Lagarde said there would be more rate increases, despite the risk of recession.
"We have to do what we have to do," Ms Lagarde said at a press conference.
"Our mandate is price stability and we have to deliver on that using all the tools we have and selecting those that will be most appropriate and most efficient.'
Ms Lagarde said the European Central Bank was not oblivious to the risk of recession.
"Obviously we are concerned, particularly about those who have low income and who are more vulnerable to not only to the risk of recession but to the reality of inflation," she said.
The ECB also cut a key subsidy to banks to force them to repay trillions of euros in ECB loans, and said detailed discussions on winding back its bond holdings would begin in December.
The FTSE 100 in London rose 0.25 per cent, to 7,074, the DAX in Germany rose 0.1 per cent, and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.5 per cent, to 6,244.
Oil prices rose overnight, with Brent crude up 0.8 per cent, to $US96.45 a barrel.
Spot gold fell 0.2 per cent, to $US1,661.62 an ounce.
ABC/Reuters
