After strong gains in the previous session, international markets slumped on Friday night.

Disappointing economic data from China and rising borrowing costs in Spain were the catalysts for the weakness.

In Europe the FTSE shed 59 points (-1%) to settle at 5652, whilst the CAC (-2.5%) and DAX (-2.4%) suffered even heavier falls.

Stateside, the Dow Jones gave up 137 points (-1.1%) to settle at 12850, whilst the S&P 500 (-1.3%) and Nasdaq (-1.5%) were off by similar amounts.

The losses capped this year's biggest weekly declines for US markets, with the Dow giving up 1.6% on the week, whilst the S&P shed 2%.

The Aussie dollar weakened and is now buying approximately US$1.036, whilst the US dollar strengthened against both the euro and yen.

Crude oil prices eased 0.8%, to $102.83 a barrel, while gold prices slipped 1.2%, to $1659.10 a troy ounce.

There is no major economic data due out for today's session.

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Morning Market Analysis: Rollercoaster Ride is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog