FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

Blue chips extended a streak of declines the likes of which haven't been seen in almost 40 years, amid continued euro-zone concerns and Facebook's lackluster debut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its 12th loss in 13 sessions, the worst 13-session performance since October 1974.

The average lost 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 9.64 points, or 0.7%, to 1295.22. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34.90 points, or 1.2%, to 2778.79. All three benchmarks capped their biggest weekly percentage declines of the year.

The S&P 500's information-technology sector led the index's declines and extended its streak of daily retreats to 12, the longest ever. The group fell for nine straight days in 1998. Telecommunications shares rose.

In other corporate news, Kraft Foods advanced 0.4% after the blue-chip food company said the Internal Revenue Service provided a favorable tax ruling, confirming the tax-free status of its planned North American grocery spinoff.

Autodesk slumped 13% after the design-software maker reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that matched estimates but provided a somewhat downbeat second-quarter outlook.

The Dow edged higher as Facebook opened at $42.05, or 11% above its $38 initial public offering price, then fell when Facebook traded down to its intraday low of $38. Facebook closed up 0.6% at $38.23.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

In Europe, reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed that Greece hold a referendum on its membership in the euro zone, apparently a pointed message to Greeks over their commitment to austerity, weighed on sentiment.

The German government denied that Merkel made the suggestion. European stock markets ended a volatile session in negative territory Friday, with banks up on rumors of a short-selling ban, but drinks makers and miners under pressure amid continuing euro-zone worries and concerns about slowing Chinese growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1.1% to 238.88, marking its fifth day of losses. The index dropped more than 5% for the week. Several banks rose across the region amid talk of a European ban on short-selling. BNP Paribas SA rose 2.9% and Societe Generale SA gained 2.3%.

Shares of Banco Santander SA, which was among 16 Spanish institutions downgraded by Moody's Investors Service late Thursday, rallied 3%.

The downgrades added to concerns about Spain as investors weighed continuing prospects for a Greek exit from the euro zone.

A report in Spanish daily Cinco Dias said Spanish banks were going to ask regulator CNMV to reinstate a ban on short-selling of domestic banks. A spokeswoman for the regulator said there had been no changes.

Spain's IBEX 35 index rose 0.4% to 6,566.70 in volatile action, with shares of beaten-down Bankia SA soaring 23.5%. Shares of the recently nationalized lender lost more than 15% during the week, amid rumors of depositors withdrawing funds.

Italy's FTSE MIB index pulled back from earlier gains to end 0.3% lower at 13,048.90. The Athens General Index rose 2.5% to 550.13, with National Bank of Greece SA up 7.7%.

The resource-heavy FTSE 100 index dropped 1.3% to 5,267.62, with shares of Rio Tinto PLC off 2.3% and Xstrata PLC down more than 4%. Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC fell 2.2% and Barclays PLC dropped 3.2%.

Drinks makers were also under pressure in London, with Diageo PLC sliding 2.1% and SABMiller PLC giving up 2.3%. The French CAC 40 index fell 0.1% to 3,008. Pernod Ricard SA dropped 3.9% and luxury-goods groups LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton lost 2% and PPR SA 2.2%. The German DAX 30 index fell 0.6% to 6,271.22, hit by a 2% drop for Volkswagen AG and a 2% decline for sportswear maker Adidas AG.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stocks plunged Friday as fresh fears about Spanish banks added to existing worries about capital flight from Greek lenders, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in the region's market capitalization.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 3% during the session to take losses to a seventh straight week. Shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange alone lost $110 billion in value according to data from FactSet Research.

South Korea's Kopsi index dropped 3.4%, China's Shanghai Composite index lost 1.4% and Taiwan's Taiex stumbled 2.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.3%, ending well off the day's low but still clinching its 11th loss in 12 trading days.

The index is now among the worst performing in the region this month, having lost 10.2% of its value. South Korea's Kospi lost 7% during the week, while the Shanghai Composite gave up 2.1%.

A big portion of the recent losses came as reports emerged about depositors taking large sums out of Greek banks, amid fear that upcoming elections in June could lead the country out of the euro-zone.

But Friday's losses came a day after ratings agency Moody's downgraded 16 Spanish banks, and as shares of Spanish lender Bankia SA dropped 14% Thursday on reports customers were pulling money out of the nationalized lender.

Several regional stocks with a large international presence fell sharply. In Japan, Honda Motor Co. fell 3.6%, Toyota Motor Corp. lost 3.7% and Sony Corp. dropped 5.3%.

Hong Kong apparel retailer Esprit Holdings Ltd., which has significant exposure to Europe, dropped 4.1%, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. skidded 2.9% in Taipei.

And in Seoul, Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 4.8%, while shares of affiliate Kia Motors Corp. fell 5.7%. Losses for some commodities late Thursday also sent Asian resource shares sharply lower. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. fell 1.5% and coal miner China Shenhua Energy Co. declined 3.4% in Hong Kong; in Shanghai, they lost 0.4% and 1.4%, respectively.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Friday, buoyed by investors closing short positions at the end of the week before the leaders of the top eight industrialized nations meet to discuss the global economy and the European Union sovereign-debt crisis.

At the close, LME three-month copper closed nearly flat at $7,650 a metric ton, while aluminum was up 0.7% at $2,068/ton and nickel was down 2.3% at $16,800/ton.

Lead was among Friday's top-performing base metals, as it was up 2.1% on the day at $1,966/ton. Oil futures slid for the sixth session in a row Friday, settling at their lowest level in nearly seven months and setting yet another new low for the year as macro-economic worries and weak supply-demand fundamentals weighed on the market.

The market was modestly lower most of the day but took a sharp dive with a half hour left in the trading session, falling as much as 1.6% before recovering slightly at the close.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down $1.08, or 1.2%, at $91.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, their lowest price since Oct. 26. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange ended down 35 cents, or 0.3%, at $107.14 a barrel.

Gold futures climbed for a second day, erasing the week's losses as investors continued to close out bets on lower prices following the 10-month lows hit earlier this week.

Others added to their holdings of the yellow metal on the view that the Federal Reserve may be more likely to deploy more easy-money policies after a set of sluggish economic indicators and the week's bleak news from Europe.

The most-actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, rose $17, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,591.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. During the week, futures rose $7.90, or 0.5%.