Markets Live: Qantas leads ASX rise, JB Hi-Fi plunges

Copper prices have rebounded from four week lows after China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up in April according to the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index.

Copper had hit a four-week low on the back of concerns about consumer demand from China.

Checking back in with the market at 2pm and the S&P/ASX 200 index is sitting at 6,050.1, up 34.9 points or 0.6 per cent.

Qantas is leading the market, up 6.9 per cent to $620.

An opinion piece from Stephen Bartholomeusz on why it's a new age for Australia's duopolies.

​Rational duopolies produce good results for shareholders, and sometimes consumers, as the third-quarter updates from Qantas and Woolworths seem to demonstrate.

A 30 per cent gender target for women on boards of ASX300 companies will be written into the stock market's best practice standards for the first time.

The ASX Corporate Governance Council's updated guidelines will also require companies to deal explicitly with their "social license to operate", a matter brought into sharp focus by the banking royal commission and a damming regulator inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank.

The ASX governance council is consulting on an updated version of its principles and recommendations.

Joanna Mather has the full story here.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Commonwealth Bank's chairman, David Turner, stood up at the Sydney Cricket Ground and voiced his dream that Australia's largest bank would also come to be recognised as its most ethical.

"We see it down the road as being the ultimate competitive advantage," Turner told shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting.

Woolworths' same-store supermarket sales have grown faster than those at Coles for the sixth consecutive quarter, rising 4.4 per cent in January-March as Australia's largest food retailer reduced everyday shelf prices, improved stock availability and refurbished stores.

After adjusting for the timing of Easter and New Years Day, Woolworths' same-store supermarket sales rose 4 per cent, in line with market forecasts between 3.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent.

Forcing the Commonwealth Bank to carry an extra $1 billion capital in response to a deep-seated "complacency" among its most senior ranks is tipped to only have minor financial impacts on the lending giant in the face of its $10 billion a year profit combined with its existing multi-billion dollar asset sale program.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) on Tuesday slammed the culture of CBA's leaders after a string of scandals in recent years, citing overconfidence, a failure to see the bigger picture, and inadequate attention to non-financial risks.

Clancy Yeates has the full story here.

Checking back in with the market at midday and the S&P/ASX 200 index is up 27.7 points to 6,042.9, a gain of 0.5 per cent.

The index is closing in on its February high and is currently just 0.2 per cent shy.

Xero in a position to finally transition from a loss-making start-up to a self-funding business with significant growth opportunities, say UBS who has upgraded the stock to a neutral recommendation and upgraded its price target to $42.50.

A potential key to the company's growth is the UK's 'Making Tax Digital' initiative which will require all VAT-registered businesses with turnover above £85k to maintain digital records with the broker predicting up to 800,000 UK SMEs could adopt cloud accounting software before April 2019.

Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia has released its quarterly results and investors have signalled their disappointment.

The first quarter results showed that new business volume (as measured by new insurance written) had decreased by 36.8 per cent to $4.3 billion compared with $6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017.