The Spanish Government has announced that it will temporarily cut the sales tax on new house purchases in order to boost activity in the construction sector.

Libyan rebel forces have now moved with 25km of leader, Muammar Gaddafi´s stronghold in Tripoli.

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European shares fell again on Friday with investors remaining jittery about sovereign debt, weaker economic growth and potential vulnerability of banks. Banks not covered by a short-selling ban were lower. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 1.5pct while the German Dax was down by 2.2pct and the UK FTSE eased by 1.0pct.

US sharemarkets ended near session lows on Friday as fear continued to influence investor decision-making. The Dow Jones fell by almost 173pts or 1.6pct with the S&P 500 down by 1.5pct and the Nasdaq lost 38.6pts or 1.6pct. Over the week the Dow fell by 4.0pct and the S&P 500 lost 4.7pct while the Nasdaq fell by 6.6pct.

US long-term treasury yields lifted from 60-year lows on Friday after investors elected to take profits. There was no economic data to guide investors and while the US dollar and equities fell, commodity prices rose. This week, the government will sell a total of $99 billion worth of two, five and seven-year debt. US 2yr yields were down 1pt at 0.193pct and US 10yr yields were unchanged at 2.068pct. Over the week US 2yr yields were steady while US 10yr yields fell by 28pts.

The US dollar fell against major currencies on Friday. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.4260 to near US$1.4450, ending the US session at US$1.4395. The Aussie dollar rose from lows around US103.15c to US104.80c, ending US trade near US103.95c. And the Japanese yen spiked from 76.60 yen per US dollar to JPY75.95 after a Japanese official was quoted in a newspaper saying that the Government didn´t plan to intervene often to weaken the currency. But the US dollar managed to reverse course from record lows to end US trade near JPY76.50.

US crude oil prices were mixed on Friday. The September Nymex crude oil fell by US12c or 0.4pct to US$83.08 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US$1.63 to US$108.62 a barrel. Nymex was down by 2.7pct over the week with Brent up 0.8pct.

Base metal prices were slightly higher on the London Metal Exchange on Friday in response to a weaker greenback, except nickel which fell by 0.4pct. Other metals rose up to 0.7pct. Over the week metal prices were generally lower, except zinc, up 0.8pct. Other metals fell 0.5-3.0pct but tin lost 7.7pct. And the gold price rose on Friday to a fresh record high as investors continued to embrace safe-haven assets. Comex December gold rose by US$30.20 an ounce or 1.7pct to US$1,852.20. Gold rose by US$109.60 or 6.3pct over the week.

Ahead: In Australia, Caltex, Primary Health Care, Challenger, BlueScope Steel and Amcor release profit results. In the US, no major economic data is released.