The US White House and Republicans made a budget deal on Friday night to prevent closure of Government offices.

US wholesale inventories rose by 1.0pct in February, in line with forecasts. But sales fell 0.8pct after lifting 3.3pct in January.

China has recorded a small US$140m surplus in March.

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European shares rose on Friday with resources shares gaining in response to higher metal and oil prices. Investors also expect a positive start to the US earnings season - Alcoa releases results after the close on Monday. The FTSEurofirst index rose by 0.2pct, the German Dax lifted by 0.5pct and the UK FTSE gained 0.8pct.

US sharemarkets ended slightly lower on Friday. Investors were focussed on the start of earnings season on Monday and the dispute between the Congress and the White House on the Budget that threatened to close down Government offices. The Dow Jones index fell by 29pts or 0.2pct with the S&P 500 lower by 0.4pct and the Nasdaq lost 15.7pts or 0.6pct. Over the week the Dow Jones rose just 0.03pct with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both down 0.3pct.

US treasuries fell on Friday (yields higher) on the looming Government shutdown. US 2yr yields rose 2pts to 0.815pct and US 10yr yields lifted 3pts to 3.58pct. Over the week US 2yr yields rose by 1.5pts and US 10yr yields rose by 13pts.

The US dollar fell against major currencies, especially in the last hour of US trade on Friday on a looming shutdown of US Government functions. The Euro lifted from lows near US$1.4385 to close US trade near the day´s highs at US$1.4485. The Aussie dollar soared from lows near US105.15c set in afternoon US trade to fresh 29-year highs of US105.80c, ending near US105.60c. And the Japanese yen rose from 85.40 yen per US dollar to JPY84.65, before closing US trade at JPY84.70.

US crude oil prices rose to fresh 30-month highs on Friday. A weaker US dollar drove commodity prices higher - a lower greenback improves purchasing power for buyers in Europe and Asia. And continued military action in Libya raised the risk of disruption to oil supplies. The Nymex crude oil contract rose by US$2.49 or 2.3pct to US$112.79 a barrel. And the London Brent crude rose by US$3.98 to US$126.65 a barrel. Over the week Nymex crude rose by 4.5pct.

Base metal prices posted solid gains on the London Metal Exchange on Friday in response to a weaker greenback. Metals generally rose between 1.5-3.4pct with zinc gaining the most. Over the week metal prices soared between 3.1-7.9pct with nickel up the most and aluminium up the least. Gold rose in response to a weak US dollar, political and geopolitical problems. The Comex gold futures price rose by US$14.80 an ounce to US$1,474.10. Gold rose by 3.2pct over the week.

Ahead: In Australia, lending finance data is released. In the US, Alcoa reports quarterly earnings.

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