Markets Live: ASX falls despite CSL upgrade

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12:09pm

Australian shares have fallen lower during the morning trade despite CSL's strong performance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 11 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,083.3.

Index heavyweights BHP Billiton, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are all leading the market lower through modest losses.

NIB Holdings, Bellamy's Australia and IPH are all down more than 3.5 per cent.

CSL is up 4 per cent and adding 11.9 points to the index.

Retail Food Group is up 3.7 per cent followed by Eclipx Group, up 2.9 per cent.

11:40am

Jordan Belfort, the "Wolf of Wall Street," isn't just a con, but also a deadbeat, prosecutors say, and they want him to pay up.

For those who've forgotten, Belfort operated a penny-stock boiler room on New York's Long Island called Stratton Oakmont Inc.

His brash behaviour was glorified on screen by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie based on Belfort's memoir.

The 2013 film made about $US100 million $125 million) and helped start Belfort's second career as a motivational speaker.

Read the full story here.

11:19am

Stephen Bartholomeusz asks: Is the 36-year bond bull market finally coming to an end?

After a couple of false dawns, it would appear the 36-year bull market in bonds may finally be ending.

Overnight, the US 10-year bond yield reached 3.096 per cent, its highest level since August 2008, just ahead of the global financial crisis and nearly 80 basis points higher than a year ago.

Two-year treasuries have risen nearly a full percentage point over the past year and three-month bonds are yielding 1.89 per cent, also a percentage point above their level 12 months ago, and now match the dividend yield from the S&P 500 stocks.

Read Stephen's full piece here.

10:58am

New activist short-seller Blue Orca Capital, founded by former Glaucus head of research Soren Aandahl and named after the killer whale, will consider accepting capital from outside investors willing to back his standalone fund.

Blue Orca could go public with its first short target as soon as May 30, when Mr Aandahl is presenting at the Sohn Hong Kong Conference, an annual charitable event where hedge funds share their best ideas.

The Australian market will remain a focus of Mr Aandahl's work, because he says short-selling is most effective in markets where there is a strong culture of governance.

10:44am

Analysts have cut profit forecasts for Myer by at least 10 per cent and say Australia's largest department store chain is closer to breaching debt covenants after posting its sixth consecutive decline in same-store sales.

While Myer's 3.1 per cent decline in April-quarter same-store sales was not as bad as some had anticipated, analysts fear gross margins will come under pressure in the July quarter as Myer slashes prices to clear excess stock after the extraordinarily warm start to winter.

Sue Mitchell has the full story here.

10:20am

Australian shares have risen this morning in what has been a fairly muted start to trading.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is up 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6,107.3.

CSL is leading the market this morning, up 4.7 per cent to $183.98, adding 14 points to the index alone.

Wesfarmers is up 1.1 per cent while Origin Energy has risen 2.8 per cent.

Commonwealth Bank is the biggest laggard although they're down only 0.8 per cent.

IPH is the index's worst performer, down 2.5 per cent.

10:01am

Oil's rise to $US80 a barrel is stoking concerns that the price rally will erode demand, but OPEC's giants so far aren't worried.

Crude surged above $US80 a barrel in London for the first time since 2014, as global supply tightens and the US moves to restrict oil exports from Iran.

"At $US80 per barrel, there will be some impact on demand," warned Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive officer of French oil explorer Total. The problem could worsen if Iran's exports are curbed later this year.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see $US100 per barrel in the coming months," he said in Washington on Thursday (Friday AEST).

Read the full story here.

9:41am

SPI futures up 14 points or 0.2% to 6122 at about 7.35am AEST

AUD -0.1% to 75.09 US cents

On Wall St: Dow -0.2%, S&P 500 -0.1%, Nasdaq -0.2%

In New York, BHP -0.2% Rio +0.1%

In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.8%, FTSE +0.7%, CAC +1%, DAX +0.9%

Spot gold +0.1% to $US1291.57 an ounce at 2.53pm New York time

Brent crude +0.2% to $US79.41 a barrel

US oil +0.1% to $US71.56 a barrel

Iron ore -0.8% to $US67.49 a tonne

Dalian iron ore +0.3% to 483 yuan

LME aluminium -1% to $US2293 a tonne

LME copper +0.8% to $US6879 a tonne

10-year bond yield: US 3.11%, Germany 0.63%, Australia 2.92%

9:20am

SPONSORED POST

Australian shares are set to open slightly higher despite a choppy trading session on Wall Street on Thursday, where investors grappled with escalating trade tensions and rising oil prices, writes John Kicklighter & Ilya Spivak.

At 7am AEST, the Australian share price futures were up 14 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 6,122 points.

Comments by US President Donald Trump that China "has become very spoiled on trade" cast doubt on his efforts to avoid a tariff war between the world's two largest economies, increasing investor jitters at the outset of a second round of high-level negotiations.

Meanwhile, unrest in the Middle East suggested a reduction of oil supply and sent crude prices to their highest level in three-and-a-half years, briefly hitting $US80 a barrel.