Australian shares are trading higher at the open this morning although the market is very mixed.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is trading 6.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 6275.5.

Telstra is leading the market with a 2.4 per cent advance, Commonwealth Bank is up 0.4 per cent and NAB is trading 0.7 per cent higher.

Orica shares are 3.7 per cent higher, Platinum Asset Management shares have risen 3.1 per cent and Afterpay Touch has advanced 2.8 per cent.

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Investors remain jumpy over US-China trade movements, with Wall Street sliding late in the session. Futures are pointing to the ASX opening slightly higher, writes Kyle Rodda.

Judging by last night's price action, trade for the remainder of the week is going to very "headline driven". It's an obscure way of saying a little bit nervous, a little bit jumpy, and probably a bit irrational.

The reason for this judgement comes from market participants' reaction to some pretty shallow, and conflicting news-stories overnight. As most traders have become used to when it comes to the subject, trade-negotiation news drove sentiment during US trade. And unlike the night prior, where traders became hung-up on bad-news, last night's developments proved a dead-rubber for the stock market.

Read the full 8@eight here.

Here are the overnight market highlights:

ASX futures up 14 points or 0.2% near 8.30am AEST.
AUD -0.3% to 69.90 US cents
On Wall St: Dow flat, S&P 500 -0.2%, Nasdaq -0.3%
In New York, BHP -0.2%, Rio -1.1%, Atlassian +5.9%
In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.5%, FTSE +0.2%, CAC +0.4%, DAX +0.7%
Spot gold -0.3% to $US1280.21 an ounce at 2.10pm New York time
Brent crude +0.8% to $US70.42 a barrel
US oil +1% to $US62.00 a barrel
Iron ore -0.6% to $US95.57 a tonne
Dalian iron ore -1.1% to 637 yuan
LME aluminium -1% to $US1797 a tonne
LME copper -0.5% to $US6148 a tonne
2-year yield: US 2.30% Australia 1.32%
5-year yield: US 2.29% Australia 1.35%
10-year yield: US 2.48%, Australia 1.73%, Germany -0.05%
10-year US/Australia yield gap near 7.15am AEST: 75 basis points

Investors have retreated to a defensive crouch as both sides of the deteriorating US-China trade clash talk tough ahead of what looks increasingly likely to end in a major leap in growth-crunching tariffs this weekend.

President Donald Trump accused China of seeking to renegotiate already agreed-to parts of a trade deal in order run down the clock on his administration.

It's because of the "sincere HOPE that they will be able to 'negotiate' with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats, and thereby continue to ripoff the United States", Mr Trump wrote in a tweet on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

"Guess what, that's not going to happen!".

Jacob Greber has the full story here.

Good morning and welcome to Markets Live for Thursday.

Your editor today is William McInnes.

Futures are pointing higher this morning as the market awaits a breakthrough in US-China trade negotiations.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.