The first day of spring brought a bit of sunshine to the Australian sharemarket, capping a hectic week which included a fresh North Korean missile test and the final days of the August reporting season.

The S&P/ASX 200 index swung from gains to losses and back again on Friday, ultimately ending the session 10 points higher at 5725, with miners once again lifting and after buying in three of the four major banks. 

Friday's limited gains trimmed the week's losses to 19 points, or 0.3 per cent, landing the benchmark index firmly back within its multi-month range of 5700-800 points Friday's close. Commonwealth Bank in particular, weighed heavily over the week after the prudential regulator compounded the bank's woes by announcing an independent inquiry into the lender's culture. CBA ended the week off another 2.9 per cent.

In a week marked by big moves for gasoline after Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas, investors also sent the euro to two-and-a-half year highs after the commentary, or lack of it, that emerged from last weekend's annual meeting of the world's central bankers in Jackson Hole.

Early Tuesday morning, investors in Australia and around the globe were blindsided by renewed tensions on the Korean peninsular after North Korea fired a missile over Japan for the first time since 2009.

The move sent equity markets around our region into a tailspin for a day, as investors fretted about potential repercussions and bought up safehavens such as gold and, ironically, the Japanese yen.

However, a surprisingly mellow reaction from US President Donald Trump and better data out of the US soon saw markets back on track and for the rest of the week Aussie investors concentrated on the final days of profit reporting season.

Telstra shares slid 6.3 per cent on Wednesday after the stock traded without the right to its 15.5¢ per share final dividend and investors grappled with the news that NBN had rejected a proposal to monetise the payments the builder of the National Broadband Network is making to the telco. Telstra dropped 6.4 per cent over the five sessions.

The last few earnings reports trickled in, with Harvey Norman taking a hit on Thursday after the retailer cut its final dividend by 5¢ to 12¢ a share to preserve cash, despite lifting its bottom-line net profit by 29 per cent to a record $448.9 million after riding the tailwinds of the housing and property booms.

"Earnings growth outside of the volatile resource sector looks to have been a reasonable 5-6 per cent last year but it's the outlook that has been a bit disappointing with earnings growth looking to be lower this year," Alphinity Investment Management portfolio manager Johan Carlberg said.

"The August reporting season confirmed that Australia is struggling to keep pace with international markets," Mr Carlberg said.

Blackmores was an earnings standout, rising 25 per cent over the week, after reporting earnings. Ramsay Health dropped 8.7 per cent over the week and Boral fell 5.7 following their earnings updates.

Northern hemisphere investors are set to return to their desks after the August holidays and one of the first things they will be eyeing is US jobs data due out Friday night, Australian time.

Stock of the day

Harvey Norman shares fell another 4.2 per cent on Friday to $3.91, extending Thursday's sharp sell-off when investors reacted badly to the company's results. The retailer cut its final dividend by 5¢ to 12¢ a share to preserve cash, despite lifting its bottom-line net profit by 29 per cent to a record $448.9 million after riding the tailwinds of the housing and property booms.

Credit Suisse hedge fund sales trader Sujit Dey expressed alarm that the company's second half cash conversion came in at "poor" 71 per cent. The analyst that covers the stock for CS is not as gloomy: he reaffirmed his neutral rating. Mr Dey went on to say, "overall, we don't have enough information to conclude whether this year's poor cashflow is a one-off that will reverse in future periods or whether its longer-term issue. "Until we can get more clarity on this, I don't think Harvey Norman is investable at the present time."

China PMI part II

The Caixin manufacturing PMI reading beat expectations, rising from 51.1 in July to 51.6 in August, and ahead of consensus estimated of 51, noted Capital Economics. The official manufacturing PMI published yesterday also surprised to the upside, rising to 51.7 in August from 51.4 the previous month. "The surveys point to resilient industrial activity last month," Capital Economics economist Julian Evans-Pritchard. "[It] suggests that growth may have edged up in August."

Steel and iron ore

Chinese rebar steel futures rose more than 2 per cent on Friday, after the Caixin manufacturing PMI reading reinforced yesterday's upbeat official PMI data on the Chinese economy. The positive data also lifted Chinese iron ore futures and was seen supporting US dollar-denominated iron ore prices. The most active iron ore contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped 4.5 per cent to 584 yuan a tonne in late Friday trade. The spot iron price climbed 3.7 per cent on Thursday night to $US78.91 a tonne.

South Korean won

The South Korean won strengthened on Friday after the country's exports saw another big rise while annual inflation accelerated, raising the prospect of tighter monetary policy. The won stood at 1122.7 against the US dollar, 0.5 per cent firmer than Thursday's close. "Market players were fully aware that it is going to be another strong month for the exports, but the rise was much bigger than the expectation," said Ha Keon-hyeong, a foreign exchange analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp. Ha added that a quickening pace of inflation could raise some concerns that the Bank of Korea might have to closely review monetary policy.

Up, up and away

Galaxy Resources powered higher on Friday, with shares jumping 15.3 per cent. The lithium miner is approaching a one-month high as it builds on a near-8 per cent gain in the previous session. The company on Wednesday said its half-year operating income had surged to $2.4 million from $13,000 a year earlier. Galaxy also told shareholders it has transitioned to commercial production at its Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia and reported half-year revenue of $15 million. It also met half-yearly production targets and said it expected cash costs to reduce in the second half.