The Australian dollar is lower as the European Union and the US prepare to impose sanctions on Russia after a referendum on the fate of Crimea went ahead despite Western opposition.
Cash strapped Jacka Resources has appointed two broking firms to assess capital raising options after confirming that a friendly takeover offer from Tangiers Petroleum looks set to fail.
Mining and engineering contractors were the biggest losers today when the S&P Dow Jones rebalanced all of its Australian indices, with RCR Tomlinson one of the few to buck the trend.
At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 16.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher at 5,462.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.3 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 5,477.0.