Markets Live: ASX cautious at the open, Santos up

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10:55am

Qantas Airways chief Alan Joyce expects the airline will largely absorb an 18 per cent rise in fuel costs to $3.9 billion in the coming year with strong forward bookings and further cost cutting, after announcing a 14 per cent rise in underlying profits to $1.6 billion.

"We're seeing healthy demand across key sectors matched with improving levels of capacity discipline, which is a positive sign for the year ahead," Mr Joyce said in a release.

"This record result comes despite higher oil prices. We're facing another increase to our fuel bill for 2018-19 and we're confident that we will substantially recover this through a range of capacity, revenue and cost efficiency measures, in addition to our hedging program."

The company also announced an on-market share buyback of up to $332 million.

Jemima Whyte has the full story here.

10:42am

High-flying payments system Afterpay has announced an expansion into the UK, rising numbers of merchants and underlying sales of $2.18 billion over the the system in the 2018 financial year, quadruple the level the year before.

The credit card disrupter popular with young, female shoppers, recorded a statutory loss after tax of $9 million, driven by its fast expansion, costs relating to the acquisition of Touchcorp and share-based payments to staff.

Earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year was $33.7 million and revenue was $142.3 million, in line with guidance provided to the ASX on July 19. Bad debts improved.

James Eyers has the full story here.

10:29am

The Australian sharemarket has dropped slightly at the open this morning, with the major banks all trading lower.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is down 7.4 points, or 0.1 per cent at 6258.6.

The major banks are all trading lower this morning, continuing the trend we've seen in the past few sessions.

Mcmillan Shakespeare is down 4.3 per cent this morning, ARB Corp is down 4 per cent and Ingham's Group is down 3.7 per cent.

Better news from the resource sector with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both sitting comfortably in the green. Santos has jumped 9.6 per cent on its results this morning.

Iress is up 11.6 per cent this morning, TPG Telecom is up 9.1 per cent and oOh!Media is up 7.4 per cent.

To follow all the earnings from today, check out the earnings live blog here.

10:06am

A really interesting look at just exactly what impact the Liberal leadership debacle is having on the markets at the moment.

The ASX SPI futures have dropped clearly on the back of the three leadership spills.

Inside the opening few minutes, the ASX 200 is firmer.

9:58am

Here are the overnight market highlights:

SPI futures up 18 points at 6254.0

AUD at US73.46¢

On Wall St: Dow -0.3% S&P 500 -0.1% Nasdaq +0.4%

In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.3% FTSE +0.1% CAC +0.2% DAX unchanged

Spot gold unchanged at $US1195.26 an ounce

Brent crude +2.3% at $US74.77 a barrel

Iron ore unchanged at $US66.54 a tonne

Companies reporting today: Santos Limited, Alumina Limited, Boart Longyear Limited, South32 Limited, EBOS Group Limited, Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited, Southern Cross, Village Roadshow Limited, Iress Limited, Redbubble, Platinum Asset Management, Qantas Airways Limited, Qube Holdings Limited, ERM Power Ltd

9:43am

SPONSORED POST

Markets lost a bit of their mojo overnight, stunned by the shocking revelations that US President Trump's former legal advisor, Michael Cohen, plead guilty to financial fraud, writes Kyle Rodda.

Without directly fingering the US President, Cohen admitted to paying hush money to two women, who claim to have had affairs with then Presidential candidate Trump, for the purpose of "influencing the election." The news truly took the wind out of traders, who sold out of equities and jumped into safe havens, driving indices lower across the globe. As the details of the story were digested throughout the day, it became apparent that perhaps initial reactions to the news were too extreme. Despite this however, the ultimate effect was a neutralising one, with trading proven slackened for the rest of the day.

Read the full 8@eight here.

9:21am

Australian shares are set to open firmer on Thursday. US stocks were mixed after Federal Reserve minutes showed the central bank intends to maintain a gradual pace for rate hikes.

The S&P 500 was little changed on Wednesday after the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes as the index marked its longest bull-market run.

US central bankers discussed raising interest rates soon to counter excessive economic strength but also examined how global trade disputes could batter businesses and households.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday fell 88.69 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 25,733.6, the S&P 500 lost 1.14 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 2861.82 and the Nasdaq Composite added 29.92 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 7889.10.

Will Willitts has the full Before the Bell here.

8:56am

Good morning and welcome to Markets Live for Thursday.

Your editor today is William McInnes.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.

Fairfax Media with wires.