The Australian share market is down at noon as ongoing tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to weigh on the local exchange.
Russia confirmed it would impose 12-month bans on most food imports from Western nations, including Australia.
But CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said it was US President Barack Obama’s announcement that the United States would undertake targeted air strikes in Iraq which has made the market nervous.
“I suspect it is going to ramp out concerns about the outlook for equities in the short term,” Mr McCarthy said.
“We could see the markets come under further pressure over the course of the day,” he said.
Rio Tinto was one of the few bright spots on the local market with shares rising 31 cents to $66.63 after it announced late Thursday it had doubled its half-year profit.
But other resource stocks struggled as BHP dropped 45 cents to $38.02 while Fortescue slipped 13.5 cents to $4.585.
The finance sector was also hit as all the big four banks fell.
Commonwealth Bank was down 63 cents to $80.72, ANZ dropped 26 cents to $32.59, NAB fell 33 cents to $34.12 and Westpac slipped 21 cents to 33.44.
Media giant News Corp shares sank 38 cents, or 2.07 per cent to $17.99 as it reported its full-profit had halved in fiscal 2014.
REA Group shares slid $3.19, or 6.81 per cent to $43.64 despite reporting a 37 per cent increase in net profit following strong revenue growth from its real estate websites.
KEY FACTS
* On Friday at 1200 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 36.3 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 5,472.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 35.9 points, or 0.65 per cent, at 5,472.7 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was down 44 points at 5,405 points, with 15,256 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 983 million shares worth $1.79 billion.