U.S. STOCKS, BONDS

Third-quarter earnings season continues this week with a bevy of tech companies, as well as airlines, industrials and others. Also, housing and gross domestic product data are expected, along with three initial public offerings.

Stocks closed the week with their biggest single-day decline in four months Friday, after a slew of weak corporate earnings reports.

The tumble was paced by technology and materials shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 205 points, or 1.5%, to 13343. The index's decline comes on the 25th anniversary of Black Monday, when the Dow tumbled 23% in a single day.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 24 points Friday, or 1.7%, to 1433. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 67 points, or 2.2%, to 3006, its lowest level since August.

It was the only major index to close out the week in the red. In earnings news, the 116 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results so far have posted an earnings drop of 3.7%. If the trend continues, which is expected, it will mark the first year-over-year decline in earnings since 2009.

EUROPEAN STOCKS, BONDS

European equities fell on Friday, hit by a lack of rapid progress towards full EU banking union at a key summit, while traders remembered the 25th anniversary of the 1987 global stock market crash.

At the closing in Europe, London's FTSE 100 index of top companies fell 0.35 percent to 5,896.15 points, in Frankfurt, the DAX 30 dropped by 0.76 percent to 7,380.64 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 gave up 0.87 percent to 3,504.56 points.

Madrid's IBEX 35 sank 2.31 percent to 7,913.40 points on a lack of any clear breakthrough at a summit in Brussels and after German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced stiff opposition to using new eurozone rescue funds to replenish the coffers of troubled Spanish banks.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian markets were mixed on Friday as a week-long rally fuelled by upbeat data out of China and rising hopes for the future of the eurozone was stalled by profit-taking. Investors did not seem to be immediately moved by news out of Europe that leaders had reached a deal on a banking union within the trading bloc.

Tokyo closed 0.22 percent higher, adding 19.82 points to 9,002.68, Sydney rose 0.26 percent, or 11.7 points, to 4,571.1 and Hong Kong was 0.15 percent, or 33.05 points, higher at 21,551.76.

But Seoul lost 0.78 percent, or 15.28 points, to end at 1,943.84 and Shanghai eased 0.16 percent, or 3.39 points, to 2,128.30. Traders took a breather after regional markets enjoyed a strong rally this week following data from China indicating the world's number two economy may have bottomed out, while woes in Spain and Greece also looked to have eased.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed considerably lower on the London Metal Exchange Friday, weighed down by a strong dollar and concern over global growth, which pushed prices below technical support.

At the close of open outcry trading, flagship three-month copper was down 2.5% at $8,015 a metric ton. Copper and zinc fell first ahead of the final closing price of LME Week, copper initially dropped below $8,100/ton before dipping below $8,000 a ton with nothing to stop it, a London-based broker said.

The price of zinc, meanwhile, fell below $1,900 a ton with little to provide support, he added. The wider complex swiftly joined, mostly sinking by around 2% on the day. Crude oil futures prices fell 2.2% to an 11-day low of $90.05 a barrel Friday amid sliding equities and strength in the dollar.

Analysts said broad global economic concerns raised doubts about the strength of world oil demand at a time when U.S. crude oil inventories are at their highest level for this time of year since 1982, when government record keeping began.

Prices of reformulated gasoline blendstock and heating continued precipitous declines on signs of weak demand and expectations that U.S. refiners will soon be boosting output as seasonal maintenance work ends.

Gold futures slumped to a six-week low Friday, as concerns about Europe pushed investors to the U.S. dollar at the expense of precious metals. The most-actively traded contract, for December delivery, fell $20.70, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,724 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest price since Sept. 6. Compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD