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Markets Live: BHP and banks lead ASX advance

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Australia's trade balance figures were relatively in line with consensus forecasts, recording a trade surplus of $977 million in April.

The trade surplus narrowed from March when the surplus was $1.7 billion but was still the four consecutive surplus in 2018.

Metal ores and coal exports fell for the month on a seasonally adjusted basis while oil & gas exports continued to rise.

While the result is positive Capital Economics chief economist Paul Dales said the economy may begin to slow.

"It is early days yet, but it looks as though net exports are on track to make a neutral contribution to real GDP growth in the second quarter after having added 0.3 percentage points in the first quarter," he said.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is up 39.7 points, or 0.7 per cent at 6064.8.

BHP Billiton is still leading the index with a 1.8 per cent gain while Wesfarmers is doing well, up 2.6 per cent.

The big four banks are still doing well, as are Rio Tinto and Telstra shares.

Mayne Pharma is still the Index's best performer, up 7 per cent, followed by Cimic Group, up 5.5 per cent.

Transurban Group has fallen 1 per cent while AMP is down 2.3 per cent.

Orocobre has fallen 5.4 per cent while Retail Food Group is down 4.2 per cent.

US oil prices have continued to fall after stocks unexpectedly lifted last week.

The result is reflective of weaker oil exports, strong oil imports and improving US oil production. Oil prices had been rising over the past 12 months as the US and other countries curbed their oil output.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices have fallen 9 per cent in the past month, falling from a high of $US72.83.

Analysts are saying that the rising oil production could create surplus risks as US gasoline and distillate stockpiles rise above expectation.

West Texas Intermediate oil is trading at a strong discount to European Brent crude with the gap between the two at its largest since mid-2015.

The major banks, those titans of the ASX, are firmly in the dog house, writes Patrick Commins.

As I have written before, CBA, Westpac, NAB and ANZ have become serial disappointments to shareholders in recent times, weighed down by regulatory interventions that have forced them to raise capital and tighten lending, as well as political and public scrutiny springing for a litany of misbehaviours.

On top of all this, structural headwinds are blowing ever stronger. Years of booming credit have left households overleveraged and looking to consolidate. The March quarter national accounts figures reveal consumers remain squeezed between low wages growth and fast-paced inflation in essentials. No surprise that house prices are also beginning to fall in Sydney and Melbourne.

Read the full piece .

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Elon Musk is confident Tesla can finally meet a production target with its crucial Model 3 and predicted that manufacturing will actually become a strength for the electric-car maker over time.

The shares surged Wednesday after Musk, Tesla's chief executive officer, said the company was "quite likely" to build 5,000 of the sedans a week by the end of this month. Musk reaffirmed his forecasts for second-half profit and cash generation based on that target, and said he still sees no need to raise more capital.

"It's very difficult to become a mass-manufacturing car company," Musk, 46, said Tuesday after shareholders voted down a measure that would have required an independent director replace him as chairman. "No one has succeeded in doing this in a very long time in United States."

Read the full story .

AMP has been hit with a fourth shareholder class action over the scandals revealed at the banking royal commission and the resulting damage to the embattled financial giant's market value.

Law firm Slater and Gordon on Thursday said it had filed proceedings against the wealth management business in the Federal Court of Australia, adding that it will act on a no-win, no-fee basis.

AMP - which has admitted charging customers for financial advice that was never given and subsequently lying to the corporate watchdog about its behaviour - is also facing class actions from law firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Phi Finney McDonald and Shine Lawyers.

Read the full story here.

Mining heavyweight Fortescue Metals Group has acquired a 15 per cent stake in junior miner Atlas Iron, in a purchase Fortescue confirmed to the market on Thursday morning.

Fortescue said it had agreed to buy 15 per cent of the ordinary shares of the miner, at a cost of 4 cents per share.

Fortescue, which was founded and chaired by Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, said its "aggregate physical and economic interest" in Atlas totalled 19.9 per cent of Atlas' ordinary shares.

The iron ore heavyweight also said it has an economic interest in Atlas through a "cash settled swap relating to notional shares equivalent to approximately 4.9% of Atlas Iron's ordinary shares".

In a statement to the ASX Fortescue also said that on its current terms, Fortescue did not intend to support the proposed Scheme of Arrangement between Atlas and the Western Australia-based mining services company, Mineral Resources. But it said it reserved the right to do so.

Around midday shares in Atlas were up 6.25 per cent to 3.4 cents.

The share market has advanced through the morning session, lifting on the banks and miners.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is up 43.1 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 6068.2.

The four major banks have all risen through the morning session.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are still among the market leaders too, with Telstra also doing well.

Mayne Pharma is up 6.4 per cent while Cimic Group is up 3.8 per cent.

AMP is the market's biggest laggard, down 2.3 per cent while Oil Search has also fallen.

Retail Food Group is down 4.9 per cent.

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Australia's trade balance shifted to a surplus of $977 million in April; economists were looking for a surplus of $1 billion.

The March surplus was $1.73 billion, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Between March and April 2018, the trend estimate of goods and services credits rose $368m (1%) to $34.8 billion.

Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott has thrown cold water on expectations the conglomerate will splash out on new acquisitions, saying the best opportunities for growth lie within its existing stable of businesses.

The Perth-headquartered group is undergoing a radical transformation by spinning out its largest business, Coles, into an independently listed company, exiting its disastrous UK hardware venture, and divesting its Curragh coal mine.

This has led to anticipation of mergers and acquisitions to generate new growth, but Mr Scott said on Thursday he was more inclined to invest capital in Wesfarmers' existing businesses, which include Bunnings, Officeworks, Kmart and an industrials arm.

Patrick Hatch has the full story here.