Australian shares fell 38 points or 0.4% to 8,648 in early Friday trade, extending weakness from the prior session as U.S. equity futures softened after a sharp sell-off in Wall Street tech stocks overnight. Little progress in U.S.-Iran peace talks also weighed on investor sentiment. The local market is on track for its first weekly decline in three weeks, down about 1% so far, with caution building ahead of the Reserve Bank’s policy decision later this month. Meanwhile, recent data showed inflation remained elevated at 4.2% in April, above the 2–3% target, while Q1 GDP growth slowed markedly. Still, losses were offset by April trade data indicating a return to a surplus in Australia, lifted by an export recovery and weaker imports. Non-energy minerals, energy minerals, and consumer non-durables led sectoral weakness. Notable laggards included BHP Group (-2.3%), PLS Group (-3.0%), South32 Ltd. (-2.7%), and Evolution Mining (-2.0%). The four big banks also slipped between 0.5% and 0.9%.