Weak US data to weigh on ASX AUD fetching 90.03 US cents, 93.57 yen, 54.61 pence, 65.82 euro cents Brent oil $US107.25 per barrel Spot gold: $US1248.45 an ounce Iron ore $US130.70 per tonne Two economic reports are on deck: December ANZ job ads and home loans for November. Lynas, Qantas and Warrnambool Cheese & Butter. Deutsche Bank says Myer Holdings remains its top retail pick "given it trades at a ~20 per cent discount to the sector and hence offers some potential for multiple expansion." The investment bank thinks that David Jones is fully priced. Clime Group sees a positive impact from the weakening $A on the country's major mining companies in particular BHP Billiton. Morningstar has cut its rating on Technology One to "sell" from "reduce." The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, fell to 80.533, a one-week low. It was trading at 80.633, down 0.46 per cent, late on Friday in New York. Against the yen, the US dollar hit a two-week low of 103.82 yen, last trading down 0.72 per cent at 104.07 yen. Demand for euro zone peripheral government bonds saw the single currency jump to its highest point against the dollar in a little more than a week, hitting a high of $US1.3687. The euro was last trading at $US1.3666, up 0.44 per cent. US corn stocks were below expectations in December and 2013/14 carryout will be smaller than expected, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday, causing corn futures prices to jump as much as 5 per cent. Nickel had the biggest percentage gain of the day, jumping early 4 per cent after traders priced in a ban on exports of nickel ore from Indonesia, which supplies half of China's huge stainless steel-making industry. Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange closed at $US 13,860 a tonne, up from Thursday's $US13,350. London-traded copper and crude oil futures in New York rose more than 1 per cent each. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended modestly higher, led by gains in defensive names after a weaker-than-expected payrolls report raised new questions about both the strength of the economy and the aggressiveness of Federal Reserve stimulus. Shares of Alcoa fell 5.4 per cent to $US10.11 a day after the company reported a massive quarterly loss. Alcoa's results were hurt by recent declines in aluminium prices and a non-cash impairment charge on smelter acquisitions. A slew of major corporate results are due this week including the big banks: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. European equities reached a fresh 5 1/2 year high on Friday on solid corporate news including higher December passenger traffic at Deutsche Lufthansa. Swatch advanced after it forecast double-digit growth in 2014. "Luxury goods will be in demand this year as an improving economic outlook in developed markets is also good for emerging markets," said Didier Duret, chief investment officer at ABN-AMRO Private Banking. What happened on Friday On Friday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 12 points, 0.2 per cent, to 5312.4 points. On the week, the benchmark was down 0.7 per cent. Mining was the worst-performing sector over the week, down 3.6 per cent as weaker commodity prices and a slew of disappointing economic data releases in China weighed on the biggest miners. Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged higher at $77.60, while National Australia Bank edged up to $34.57. Westpac Banking Corporation fell 0.4 per cent to $32.22, while ANZ Banking Group lost 2 per cent at $31.56.