The S&P/ASX 200 has opened and is overall flat, but there is a big gain in Lynas Corp, which is having an investor day. The market is down 15.7 points, or 0.2 per cent.

The banks are still rising with ANZ up 2.4 per cent in early trading and Commonwealth up 1.5 per cent in early trading after news this morning the prudential regulator has proposed scrapping a rule that has meant all new mortgage customers are assessed on their ability to manage repayments with 7.25 per cent interest rates, saying the policy may have reached its use-by date.

The $2.3 billion infrastructure company Infratil has gone into a trading halt "pending it releasing an announcement about the outcome of the institutional component of the accelerated entitlement offer".

Shares will remain in a trading halt until tomorrow morning, unless advised otherwise.

Six minutes before the trading halt Infratil advised it has sold its 50 per cent stake in ANU student accommodation to AMP Capital for $162.1 million plus $4.8 million in distributions.

Seven West Media issued an earnings warning this morning saying underlying group earings for the full financial year are now likely to be between $210 million and $220 million, compared to $235.6 million in 2017-18. Analysts were expecting to see earnings of about $230 million.

However, it has managed to reduce nearly $40 million in costs, as advised at the half-year results. And its share of the metropolitan free to air advertising market has grown to 41.3 per cent "however, this revised guidance reflects the soft conditions and short market experienced across the advertising sector, and the economic uncertainty surrounding the Federal Election".

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ASX futures down 44 points or 0.7% near 7am AEST

AUD +0.6% to 69.08 US cents
On Wall St near 4pm: Dow -0.3% S&P 500 -0.7% Nasdaq -1.5%
In New York, BHP +0.5% Rio -0.4% Atlassian -3.6% Apple -3.1%
In Europe: Stoxx 50 -1.6% FTSE -0.5% CAC -1.5% DAX -1.6%
Spot gold flat at $US1277.16 an ounce at 2.15pm New York time
Brent crude -0.7% to $US71.71 a barrel
US oil -0.1% to $US62.72 a barrel
Iron ore n/a
Dalian iron ore -1.1% to 699.50 yuan
LME aluminium -2.1% to $US1797.50 a tonne
LME copper -0.4% to $US6029 a tonne
2-year yield: US 2.22% Australia 1.25%
5-year yield: US 2.20% Australia 1.31%
10-year yield: US 2.41% Australia 1.67% Germany -0.09%
10-year US/Australia yield gap as of 6.30am AEST: 74 basis points

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Global stocks have pushed lower once again, mostly thanks to the latest trade-war salvo. The result was a tumble for the European indices, and another down-day for Wall Street. Of the majors: the Eurostoxx 50 shed over 1.6 per cent, as did the DAX; the FTSE100 crimped another 0.5 per cent; and the S&P500, as the key bellwether, shed over 0.6 per cent.

It's beginning to look like a market that is increasingly willing to fade rallies in stocks, given the uncertainty of the trade-war – with a key pivot point for the S&P500 emerging at a zone of support levels around the 2800-mark. The nasty development in the trade-war yesterday pertained to new and tighter sanctions from the White House on Huawei. To cast one's mind back: the biggest jitters when the trade-war commenced last year came when global-tech firms appeared vulnerable to either US or Chinese trade-barriers.

Attention will shift to matters of more fundamental concern today. The RBA's monetary policy minutes are released, with market participants to remain acutely focused on potentially changes in language from the central bank.

A rate cut, after all, is simply considered a matter of time for financial markets. Two rate cuts from the RBA are priced into the market by year end, so the core concern for traders is when the first cut arrives. The RBA has remained (almost overly) upbeat in their assessment of the Australian economy; a marked change to this tone could increase bets that a rate cut will occur next month.

Good Morning and welcome to the Markets Live blog.

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

This blog is not intended as financial advice.