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Markets Live: ASX pauses after five days of gains

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Australian shares were flat in early trading, with gains for Macquarie not enough to offset losses elsewhere in the banking sector.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was little changed at 6099, after advancing for five straight sessions to hit a three-month high yesterday.

Wall Street failed to provide Australian traders with much inspiration to push shares higher, with US stocks ending flat-to-lower as investors braced for nonfarm payrolls data due out on Friday US time.

Macquarie was a standout, with its shares jumping 1.8 per cent after the investment bank reported a 15 per cent jump in full year net profit.

But banks were broadly weaker, with Westpac down 0.8 per cent, NAB down 1 per cent, ANZ down 0.7 per cent and CBA down 0.4 per cent.

Other notable movers on the individual stock level included Orica, up 3.3 per cent, Nanosonics, up 3.1 per cent, and a2 Milk, up 1.6 per cent.

On the downside, APN shares fell 3.8 per cent, Mayne Pharma dropped 2.3 per cent and ASX shares fell 2.2 per cent.

Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was hangry. Or maybe the stress of trying to revolutionise the way the world produces cars is finally getting to Elon Musk.

Whatever the reason, Tesla's billionaire chief executive lashed out at analysts during a wide-ranging earnings call on Wednesday, turning the session into what Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas called "the most unusual call I have experienced in 20 years on the sell-side".

Tesla's stock was down by as much as 8 per cent on Thursday morning after Musk, astonishingly, told investors not to buy Tesla shares if they can't stomach volatility. He also rejected analysts' questions on another quarter in which the company burned more than $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash.

The electric carmaker's share had been little changed after it released its results, but started diving during the conference call as Musk began cutting analysts' questions short, costing Tesla over $US2 billion in market value.

The S&P/ASX 200 has become the global sharemarket index darling after rising for the fifth straight day on Thursday to close at 6098, write John Kicklighter and Tyler Yell of IG Markets.

Will it continue today? The market is expected to open largely flat, with Australian share price futures up 0.2 per cent, as investors await the RBA's statement on monetary policy later this morning, which will provide the central bank's latest take on the economy.

Read more on what happened in markets overnight, and what to watch out for in Friday's session here.

Macquarie Group has delivered a record $2.56 billion annual profit, helped by debt capital markets income and performance fees in its asset management unit.

The Sydney-based asset manager and investment bank reported a 15 per cent jump in net profit to $2.56 billion for the 12 months ended March 31.

That outpaced analyst expectations for an annual result of $2.48 billion.

Macquarie's outlook statement said it anticipated the 2019 result would be "broadly in line" with this year's earnings. The company's share buyback remains in place.

Macquarie's latest upgrade to earnings guidance in February pointed to net income coming in at about 10 per cent higher than 2017's $2.2 billion.

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Here's some more detail on the overnight trading session, where US stocks cut sharp early losses to end mostly down as some disappointing earnings reports offset strong economic data.

Trade data showed that the US trade deficit tumbled 15.2 per cent to a six-month low of $US49.0 billion in March. The trade gap widened to $US57.7 billion in February, which was the highest level since October 2008.

The economic picture in Europe is more mixed, with official figures showing that inflation across the 19-country eurozone eased during April.

Headline consumer price inflation dipped in the year to April to 1.2 per cent from 1.3 per cent the month before. Most economists were predicting no change.

The core rate, which strips out potentially volatile items such as energy and food, fell to just 0.7 per cent in the year to April from 1 per cent the month before.

All eyes will be on the US April employment report scheduled for release on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls increased by 192,000 jobs over the month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, after rising 103,000 in March.

All the overnight market action in numbers:

  • SPI futures up 12 points or 0.2% to 6092 at about 7.15am AEST
  • AUD +0.5% to 75.29 US cents
  • On Wall St: Dow flat, S&P 500 -0.2%, Nasdaq -0.2%
  • In New York, BHP +1.5% Rio +0.8%
  • In Europe: Stoxx 50 -0.7%, FTSE -0.5%, CAC -0.5%, DAX -0.9%
  • Spot gold +0.7% to $US1314.16 an ounce at 2.07pm New York time
  • Brent crude +0.6% to $US73.81 a barrel
  • US oil +0.8% to $US68.44 a barrel
  • Iron ore -0.2% to $US66.87 a tonne
  • Dalian iron ore -1.9% to 468 yuan
  • LME aluminium -2.3% to $US2269 a tonne
  • LME copper +0.1% to $US6827 a tonne
  • 10-year bond yield: US 2.95%, Germany 0.53%, Australia 2.81%, NZ 2.79%

On the economic agenda today:

  • RBA Statement on Monetary Policy at 11.30am AEST​
  • China Caixin services PMI April, Current account first quarter
  • Euro zone Markit services April, Retail sales March
  • US nonfarm payrolls April

Stocks to watch:

  • Bendigo & Adelaide Downgraded to Hold at Morningstar
  • Independence Group Raised to Accumulate at Hartleys
  • Vocus Downgraded to Hold at Morningstar
  • Flight Centre Downgraded to Sell at Morningstar
  • Qube Downgraded to Hold at Morningstar
  • Regis Resources Downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan;
  • St Barbara Downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan

Good morning and welcome to the Markets Live blog for Friday.

Your editor today is Sarah Turner.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.

Fairfax Media with wires.