The Commonwealth Bank has suspended plans to spin off its wealth management arm following weeks of speculation it had become too small to achieve the necessary scale.

The bank said in a statement on Thursday morning it was focusing on implementing the recommendations from the Hayne royal commission, repaying customers and fixing legacy issues within the bank.

"Accordingly, CBA has suspended preparations for the demerger in order to support the focus on these priorities" a statement fom the company says.

James Frost has the full story here.

Kogan.com has taken a leaf out of Catch Group's playbook, launching an online marketplace to boost sales and better compete with Amazon Australia.

The marketplace enables third-party traders to sell goods on Kogan.com, as they do on Amazon.com.au, Catch.com.au and eBay.

Kogan.com said many leading retailers and brands had already signed up to participate, boosting the number of products to more than 100,000 and including brands such as Microsoft, Breville, Lego, Fisher-Price, Paw Patrol, SodaStream, Gillette, Gucci and Philips.

Sue Mitchell has the full story here.

Australian shares have opened higher on Thursday, led by the major resource stocks as the banks weigh.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up 3.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6165.

BHP Group is leading with a 1.1 per cent advance, Rio Tinto is up 1.1 per cent and South32 has climbed 1.6 per cent.

Beach Energy is up 3 per cent this morning, Regis Resources is climbing 2.6 per cent and Orocobre is up 2.4 per cent.

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The Australian sharemarket is poised for a strong start after gains on global markets overnight, writes Kyle Rodda.

Both European and US shares rallied overnight. For the latter, the term "goldilocks" has been bandied around. That is: growth in the US, though not as strong as it has been in the recent past, is still solid, while inflation risk is presently low, meaning the US Fed will likely remain in a neutral position.

A reminder of this dynamic came in the second of two major inflation releases out of the US this week. PPI data showed a weaker than expected print, following the night prior's soft CPI numbers. The effect has been static bond yields, a slight lift in the prospects of a US rate cut this year, and a US Dollar that has pulled-back from its highs.

Read the full 8@eight here.

Here are the overnight market highlights:

SPI futures up 20 points or 0.3% to 6182

AUD +0.2% to 70.95 US cents

On Wall St: Dow +0.6% S&P 500 +0.7% Nasdaq +0.7%

Britain's parliament has voted against crashing out of the European Union without a deal, paving the way for a likely delay to the scheduled March 29 Brexit date.

MPs voted 321 to 278 early on Thursday (AEDT) to take a 'no deal Brexit' off the table as an option. The vote puts political pressure on the government to avoid crashing out, but it's not binding: by law, Britain will still leave without a deal on March 29 if no other Brexit plan has been agreed upon.

Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged that the vote had ramped up pressure on her, or parliament, to come up with a new Brexit plan to replace her failed deal, which went down to a second heavy defeat in parliament the previous day.

Hans van Leeuwen has the full story here.

Good morning and welcome to Markets Live for Thursday.

Your editor today is William McInnes.

We're expecting a rebound today with some key economic figures ahead and the defeat of a 'no deal' Brexit motion in UK parliament overnight.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.