Australian shares have closed lower, with investors looking forward to the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy meeting on Tuesday.
The ASX 200 was down 0.2 per cent, to 6,972 points.
It was driven lower by mining and financial heavyweights, although strong performances among technology stocks helped limit losses.
The benchmark closed 2.2 per cent higher on Friday after a four-day losing streak.
Despite the overall decline, seven of 11 sectors ended higher today.
Information technology was the best performing sector, gaining 3.7 per cent and rebounding from its recent decline.
Ansell was leading the losses, down 14.3 per cent, to $26.76, after downgrading its full-year guidance.
Nib Holdings (-6pc), PointsBet (-4.1pc) and Blackmores (-4pc) were also among the worst performers.
However, Block gained 8.1 per cent to $161.41, while ARB Corp and Zip advanced 7.9 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
The Australian dollar was up, at 70.15 US cents, by 4:26pm AEDT.
World stocks rally
All three major US stock indexes closed higher on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.65 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 2.43 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite added 3.13 per cent.
However, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.99 per cent on the day for a fourth week of losses, weighed down by worries over tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Economic data helped eased inflation fears, with US data showing consumer spending and labour cost rises were weaker than expected in December.
"The widely watched employment cost index came in a touch softer than expected, suggesting wages may start to cool some from here," Stephanie Roth, a senior markets economist at JP Morgan Private Bank, said.
Mounting inflation pressures could force the Fed to rapidly hike interest rates, stifling growth, economists have warned.
MSCI's 50-country main world index rose 1.49 per cent, but remained on the brink of its worst January since the 2008 global financial crisis after shedding roughly $US7 trillion ($9.98 million) in value.
Oil pressure
Meanwhile, oil prices reached seven-year highs after the inflation data was released and as geopolitical tensions continued to raise concerns the Ukraine crisis could disrupt energy markets.
US President Joe Biden and his EU counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen, pledged to cooperate on guaranteeing the energy security of Europe and Ukraine amid the stand-off triggered by Russia deploying troops to Ukraine's border.
Brent crude oil price added 69 US cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $US90.03 a barrel.
The US Nymex Crude price added 21 US cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $US86.82 a barrel.
Investors cautiously start to buy US crude when prices fall on supply disruption concerns due to rising geopolitical tensions, Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior economist at Nomura Securities, said.
"The market expects supply will stay tight as OPEC+ is seen to keep the existing policy of gradual increase in production," he said.
Meanwhile, the market is focusing on a February 2 meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+.
It is likely to stick with a planned rise in its oil output target for March, several sources in the group told Reuters.
Meanwhile, iron ore prices jumped on Friday to their highest level since August 2021.
ABC/Reuters
