Markets Live: ASX eyes off fresh 10-year high

Telstra ia leading the market gains with a 3 per cent advance. CSL is up 0.5 per cent but still among the market leaders.

TPG Telecom has soared this morning, up 9.6 per cent while Sandfire Resources is up 5.2 per cent.

Sydney Airport is the market's biggest drag, down 1.7 per cent and weighing just over a point from the index.

Atlas Arteria is down 3 per cent, Skycity Entertainment Group is down 2.6 per cent and Reliance Worldwide is down 2.4 per cent.

Bad news and good news can be exaggerated as investors search for and hold onto stories that can vindicate the prevailing sentiment. It's this background noise that causes a veering away from fundamentals and sudden price-swings when a stronger flow of information returns to markets.

At the beginning of this week, knowing that it was going to be a week sparse on data and therefore substantial information, it was understood that trade could be dictated by relatively minor stories. It's against this back drop that the overall positivity in financial markets at a macro level has taken hold, raising the question of how supportive fundamentals will be of this view when a steady flow of information returns next week.

Read the full 8@eight here.

AUD -0.4% to 73.08 US cents (Overnight low 72.75)

On Wall St: Dow +0.2% S&P 500 +0.6% Nasdaq +1%

In New York, BHP +0.9% Rio +0.5% Atlassian +2.1%

In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.3% FTSE -0.7% CAC +0.3% DAX +0.3%

Spot gold +0.4% to $US1205.76 an ounce at 2.47pm New York time

Brent crude +1.6% to $US77.16 a barrel

US oil +1.5% to $US69.53 a barrel

Iron ore +2.3% to $US67.37 a tonne

Dalian iron ore -0.9% to 479 yuan

LME aluminium +1.8% to $US2172 a tonne

LME copper -1% to $US6086 a tonne

2-year yield: US 2.67% Australia 1.98%

5-year yield: US 2.78% Australia 2.16%

10-year yield: US 2.88% Australia 2.55% Germany 0.40%

US-Australia 10-year yield gap: 33 basis points

Vodafone's shareholders, Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison and UK-based Vodafone Group, will hold 50.1 per cent of the merged company, while TPG shareholders will take the remaining 49.9 per cent.

The company will still be named TPG Telecom, but there is a 10-year licence to continue to use the Vodafone brand on products.

Vodafone's current boss, Iñaki Berroeta, will be chief executive and managing director of the merged business, while TPG's David Teoh will be chairman.

Max Mason has the full story here.