US consumer sentiment eased from 74.3 to 71.8 in June, below the consensus forecast of 73.5. The US leading index lifted by 0.8pct in May, well above the consensus forecast of a 0.4pct gain.

Despite further public protests, the Greek Prime Minister vowed to continue with the current austerity plan.

[Sign up to get reports daily in your inbox]

European shares rose on Friday after France and Germany indicated that progress had been made on a further bail-out plan for Greece. The FTSEurofirst index rose by 0.3pct with the German Dax up by 0.8pct and the UK FTSE higher by 0.3pct.

US sharemarkets were mixed on Friday. The Dow Jones rose by almost 43pts or 0.4pct with the S&P 500 up 0.3pct but the Nasdaq lost 7pts or 0.3pct. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes rose for the first week in seven. For the week the Dow rose by 0.4pct, the S&P 500 rose 0.03pct but the Nasdaq lost 1.0pct.

US treasuries were mixed on Friday. While there was support for bonds from the ongoing Greek debt crisis, sharemarkets rose and economic data was encouraging, restraining gains for bond prices. US 2yr yields were lower by 1pt to 0.38pct and US 10yr yields rose by 1pt to 2.94pct. Over the week US 2yr yields fell by 2pts and US 10yr yields fell by around 3pts.

The US dollar fell against major currencies in European and US trade on Friday in response to firmer US economic data and on hopes for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.4130 to US$1.4335, before ending US trade near US$1.4300. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US105.10c to US106.30c before ending US trade near US106.10c. And the Japanese yen strengthened from 80.65 yen per US dollar to JPY80.00, ending US trade near its strongest levels.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday as investors took a different view from investors in other markets, fretting that the Greek debt crisis would crimp European growth prospects. The Nymex crude oil contract fell by US$1.94 or 2.0pct to a four-month low of US$93.01 a barrel and London Brent crude fell by US81c to US$113.21 a barrel. Over the week Nymex fell by 6.3pct and Brent fell by 4.7pct.

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. Copper, tin and nickel rose between 0.1-0.4pct but other metals eased up to 1.3pct. Over the week metal prices were all lower except for copper (up 1.8pct). Other metals fell between 1.4-5.4pct. But the gold price posted its strongest gain in three weeks on concerns about the Greek debt crisis. Comex gold rose by US$9.20 an ounce to US$1,539.10. Gold rose by US$9.90 last week.

Ahead: In Australia, no major economic data is scheduled. In the US, no major economic data is due.

More from IBT Markets:
Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily
Follow us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter.