Australia's sharemarket has handed back an early gain to slip lower, with miners plunging after carrying the bourse for most of the week.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 58.4 points on Friday, down 0.65 per cent, to 8,869.1, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 72.1 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 9,164.8.
An early boost reversed by the afternoon, as the basic materials sector fell more than 3 per cent, led by gold stocks and investors cashed in and took profits from what has has been a 13 per cent rally in January.
Friday's turnaround left the top-200 up only nine points since Monday, or 0.1 per cent higher for the week.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.02 US cents, down from 70.87 US cents on Thursday at 5pm as the greenback rebounded from recent weakness.
