Chinese equities have shot out of the starting block this year, and Morgan Stanley sees a lot more room for them to run higher.

Both the CSI 300, an index which tracks the top 300 stocks traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, and the MSCI China have risen more than 20 per cent from their January lows to reach Morgan Stanley's previous base targets. As a result, it's resetting them.

Morgan Stanley now sees potential for the CSI 300 to rise another 15 per cent; it's the second target upgrade for the index by the bank in three months. The new CSI 300 target is 4300.

Timothy Moore has the full story here.

Australia's twice-annual reporting season is a chance for companies on the ASX to present the best possible version of themselves – especially when their numbers aren't as good as their investors might have hoped.

To help investors sort the wheat from the chaff, we've compiled a handy guide to translate the hidden meaning of company profit announcements.

This time we're keeping the culprits anonymous. Next time we might not be so kind.

James Thomson has the full piece here.

Australian shares have opened the month of March higher on Friday on some muted gains from the index heavyweights.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up 12.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6181.1.

Commonwealth Bank is leading the market with a 0.4 per cent advance, Westpac is up 0.5 per cent and CSL is up 0.5 per cent too.

Saracen Mineral Holdings is up 4.6 per cent, Harvey Norman has advanced 3.9 per cent and Infigen Energy has climbed 3 per cent.

SPONSORED POST

The Australian sharemarket is poised to edge higher at the open on the back of a soft Wall Street lead, writes Kyle Rodda.

As far as Australian markets go, they'll be defined, broadly-speaking, by the unfolding "tale of two cities" story in global markets. That is: the renewed optimism about the US growth outlook, versus the deterioration in global economic prospects, led by the slowdown in China's economy.

The Australian economy is heavily geared to the latter, so the hunch is our fortunes will be more greatly impacted by that variable. But it won't be clear cut, and that's where the uncertainty and opportunity may emerge. The last 24 hours of trade presented a series of curious themes for market participants, with the subsequent price action patchy. What transpired did shift the narrative somewhat, setting the foundations for an interesting week next week.

Read the full 8@eight here.

Here are the overnight market highlights:

SPI futures up 6 points or 0.1% to 6155

AUD -0.6% to 70.96 US cents

On Wall St at 3.53pm: Dow -0.3% S&P 500 -0.1% Nasdaq -0.2%

Fears that a slowing economy would severely crimp corporate earnings proved unfounded through the profits season, resulting in a bumper February on the ASX as big bank stocks enjoyed a post-Hayne relief rally and miners showered investors with cash.

The Australian sharemarket posted its strongest month since mid-2016, surging 5.2 per cent. The ASX was a standout even among strongly performing global markets, as Wall Street rose 3.3 per cent.

The big four lenders led the market rally following the release of the banking royal commission's final report. Commonwealth Bank jumped 8.4 per cent through the month despite a lacklustre profit update, trailing ANZ's 11.4 per cent advance.

Patrick Commins has the full story here.

Good morning and welcome to Markets Live for Friday.

Your editor today is William McInnes.

With a busy earnings now (pretty much) over, attention will turn to the economic outlook.

We have a range of data due out today so stay tuned for that.

The blog is not intended as investment advice.