Markets Live: ASX falls as BHP, Rio extend losses

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11:43am

Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest level since February as the meltdown in the world's largest digital currency accelerates, renewing concern about the long-term viability of the much hyped alternative to traditional currencies.

The price of the digital coin fell as low as $US6,498, bringing the slide for the year to more than 50 per cent. It's down from a record high of $US19,511 reached in December, the culmination of the more than 1,400 per cent surge seen in 2017 as Bitcoin burst on to the mainstream.

Cryptocurrencies have been beset by a string of bad news. Most recently was the "cyber intrusion"on the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail this past weekend that appeared to result in a loss of an unknown quantity of digital currency.

Read the full story here.

11:18am

Australian oil and gas companies are still attractive for investors even in the face of a falling oil price which analysts believe could slip even further this year.

Morgan Stanley analysts have highlighted Australia's top-performing oil and gas companies for the year ahead as JP Morgan predicts an oil downturn in the coming months.

"While geopolitical tensions and lingering risks of large supply disruptions remain an upside risk throughout the second half of 2018, we think that prices will be corrected downwards towards the end of the year and remain capped in 2019," JP Morgan said in an analyst note.

Cole Latimer has the full story here.

11:00am

Rich lister Chris Ellison has taken a momentary break from the three way battle for control of Atlas Iron to acquire a rival iron ore business in Western Australia.

Just hours after Gina Rinehart emerged as a possible rival bidder for Atlas, Mr Ellison's company Mineral Resources Limited (MinRes) agreed to buy the Australian operations of US miner Cliffs on Wednesday morning, in a deal that was widely predicted.

MinRes owns adjacent tenements to Cliffs' Koolyanobbing operations near the Western Australian town of Southern Cross, and was running the ruler over its neighbour as far back as 2014.

Peter Ker has the full story here.

10:41am

The big four banks have continued to push back against allegations of misconduct in small business lending, making only the smallest of concessions of wrongdoing in submissions to the Hayne royal commission.

The big four banks robustly defended their respective approaches in response to open findings from counsel assisting, Michael Hodge, QC, who said that while there was no need for additional regulation in the sector, there was evidence the banks had broken the law.

While the third round lacked the shock revelations of earlier hearings that led to turmoil at AMP, it did expose issues such as parents acting as guarantors, the use of residential property as security and the plight of many franchisees.

James Frost has the full story here.

10:17am

The Australian market has opened lower this morning, led lower by losses from BHP and Rio Tinto as expected.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 14.9 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 6039.5.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are dragging the market, alongside CSL.

Mild losses for ANZ, NAB and Commonwealth Bank are also weighing the index.

Bellamy's Australia is down 2.5 per cent this morning while St Barbara has also fallen 2.1 per cent.

There is little moving the market positively today. Westpac is leading the index with just a 0.15 per cent gain.

Ausdrill is up 4.2 per cent this morning followed by Metcash, up 2.2 per cent.

9:59am

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rebounded strongly last week, rising 5.6 per cent to 123.0. This rebound followed a 1 per cent decline in the previous week, with all subindices posting gains this week. According to the report, consumer confidence is remaining historically high, well above the average rate.

ANZ senior economist Jo Masters said the jump was a positive. "It is encouraging to see confidence recover sharply after two straight weekly falls, particularly given that the improvement was broad based," she said. "On a weekly basis, confidence is now at its highest since mid-January.

"This jump in confidence likely reflects favourable coverage of the strong Q1 GDP result, which appears to have trumped concerns about the weakness in house prices and rising global trade tensions. The fall in petrol prices last week may also have boosted confidence.

"In the near term, we expect another strong jobs growth print later this week, which should act to consolidate this rise in consumer confidence. That said, geopolitical developments continue to evolve and have the potential to weigh on confidence. Looking forward, however, it will be interesting to see whether higher confidence translates into stronger spending, given a softening housing market, still low wage growth, high levels of debt and a low savings rate."

9:39am

Here are the overnight market highlights:

SPI futures down 8 points or 0.1% to 6047 at about 7.45am AEST

AUD -0.5% to 75.71 US cents

On Wall St: Dow flat, S&P 500 +0.2%, Nasdaq +0.6%

In New York, BHP -1.3% Rio -0.6%

In Europe: Stoxx 50 -0.1%, FTSE -0.4%, CAC -0.4%, DAX flat

Spot gold -0.4% to $US1295.82 an ounce at 2.03pm New York time

Brent crude -0.6% to $US76.02 a barrel

US oil +0.2% to $US66.26 a barrel

Iron ore +0.8% to $US67.23 a tonne

Dalian iron ore -0.3% to 468 yuan

LME aluminium flat at $US2302 a tonne

LME copper -0.5% to $US7222 a tonne

2-year yield: US 2.54%, Australia 2.06%

5-year yield: US 2.81%, Australia 2.42%

10-year bond yield: US 2.96%, Australia 2.80%

9:26am

SPONSORED POST

Wall Street was largely unchanged in wake of G7 Summit, setting up the ASX to edge lower at the open, write Tyler Yell and John Kicklighter.

Staples helped to lead stocks higher yesterday, but news that Chinese investors are set to cut investments in Australia for the first time since 2014 could dampen risk sentiment on Wednesday.

PM Turnbull's comments about the media have been said to be part of an anti-China campaign on the back of strict customs preventing Australian goods from getting into the mainland. This has in-turn been partly to blame for the reduction of expected Chinese investment in Australia.

To get a sense of why this news may harm short-term sentiment, Australia has about 36 per cent of total shipments destined toward mainland China per Bloomberg so a drop in business relations would hurt growth prospects for many firms and likely weigh on the index.

Overnight trade shows BHP & Rio Tinto shares are expected to open lower by -1.52% and -0.8% respectively.

Read the full 8@eight here.

8:58am

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

Your editor today is William McInnes.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.

Fairfax Media with wires.