Trading is very heavy in CSL this morning with the stock close to getting above $200 again. It is currently 1.8 per cent higher at $199.20.

Trading volumes are also heaviest in Commonwealth Bank, Fortescue, Rio Tinto, and BHP.

We reported last week that food doyen Maggie Beer is selling her business. This morning Longtable Group resumed trading and shares have dropped 30 per cent from 33.5 cents to 23.5 cents. It has announced a $15.9 million capital raising to fund the purchase of 52 per cent of Maggie Beer Products that it does not already own.

It is spending $10 million on the purchase, which includes $8.5 million cash, $0.5 million convertible note, and $1 million in Longtable Group shares to Maggie Beer at 20 cents per share and escrowed for 24 months. Ms Beer will also join Longtable's board and committed to a two-year brand ambassadorship. To raise the money Longtable will do a $2.18 million institutional placement and a rights issue on a 1 to 1.95 basis to existing shareholders at 20 cents per share. The money will also go towards expanding Saint David's Dairy and developing a baby formula product.

There are some big rises in the top 200 today, for example Bellamy's is up 9.5 per cent to $9.67, Afterpay Touch is up- 7.6 per cent to $21.06, and Nufarm is up 9.2 per cent to $5.48. Overall the S&P/ASX 200 index is up nearly 40 points to 6232.7.

The Nufarm gain is potentially due to it being upgraded to a buy at Deutsche Bank, according to Bloomberg news. And there are also rumours Wesfarmers are snooping around. Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott (and silver-medal rower) is known to be keen to reposition them in agribusiness.

The S&P/ASX 200 has opened with a jump, up 23 point to 6216 - the first time it has risen above 6200 since the end of September!

There is a big jump in Fortescue Metals, up 3.7 per cent to $6.20. Nufarm is up 6.2 per cent to $5.32, and Bingo Industries is up 4.9 per cent to $1.70.

The financials sector is leading this early rise, adding 9.7 points to the index. Materials and healthcare are also up. Currently utilities is the worst performer, although also in the gree.

GrainCorp has struck a deal with ANZ Terminals to sell its Australian Bulk Liquid Terminals business, which GrainCorp picked up when it bought Gardner Smith in 2012. The asset includes eight sites for storing fats, oils, fuels, and chemicals. GrainCorp will enter a long-term storage agreement with ANZ Terminals as part of the deal.

However, the deal will only proceed if GrainCorp does not change hands before May 10, 2019 and requires regulatory approval. GrainCorp is currently fighting off a $2.4 billion take-over from Tony Sheperd-led Long Term Asset Partners. And GrainCorp will retain its New Zealand terminals.

IG MARKETS SPONSORED POST

SPI futures up 18 points or 0.3% to 6210

AUD -0.2% to 70.79 US cents

On Wall St: Dow +0.4% S&P 500 +0.7% Nasdaq +0.8%

IG MARKETS SPONSORED POST

The Australian sharemarket is poised to open higher this morning on the back of a bright end to last week on Wall Street.

During a two hour speech on the weekend US President Donald Trump fired-up his belligerence towards the US Federal Reserve and Jerome Powell: "we have a gentleman that likes raising interest rates in the Fed, we have a gentleman that loves quantitative tightening in the Fed, we have a gentlemen that likes a very strong dollar in the Fed".

Though at a multi-month highs at 2.75 per cent, the 10 Year US Treasury is some way from the 3.26 per cent yield that stifled global markets last year and precipitated the Q4 sell-off. Riskier growth stocks in US tech are seemingly attracting buyers, indicating an underlying bullish moment in the US equity market. Having closed at 2803 on Friday, the S&P/500 eyes the 2815 resistance level now as the crucial test for US stock market strength.

For the first time in several sessions, the ASX200 appears poised to follow the US lead this morning. The last traded price on the SPI Futures contract is indicating an 18 point jump this morning, on top of Friday's closing price of 6192. The market experienced robust trade on Friday, despite soft (but above forecast) Caixin PMI numbers, and CoreLogic data that showed another monthly fall in domestic property prices. This was seen as supportive of Real Estate stocks, which rallied 2.22 per cent on 95 per cent breadth. As far as milestones go, the ASX200 will eye 6230 resistance, ahead of what is a jam-packed week for Australian markets.

Good Morning and welcome to today's Markets Live blog.

Your editor today is Lucy Battersby (lbattersby@theage.com.au).

This blog is not intended as financial advice.