Australian shares are trading lower at the open, weighed by the major banks and energy stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 17.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6493.6.

BHP Group is down 1.6 per cent, Westpac has slid 1.5 per cent and Commonwealth Bank is down 0.8 per cent.

Technology One shares are down 3.2 per cent, Galaxy Resources has slid 3.1 per cent and Pendal Group has fallen 2.9 per cent.

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Trade tensions continue to hover over markets, setting up the Australian sharemarket for a negative start to the day, writes Kyle Rodda.

The trade-war looks intractable, the US Federal Reserve is insisting its "patient", global economic growth appears late cycle, and international geopolitics is fraught with danger. At the highest level, the factors enumerated constitute the world we live in; and for financial market participants, make-up the broad environment within which trading, and investment decisions must be made.

Looking at these themes, on paper, it doesn't fill one with a great deal of confidence. The macro-economy appears risk laden, and whether it truly really reflects reality or not, the dynamic is insidiously sapping sentiment in the market (albeit marginally) nonetheless.

Read the full 8@eight here.

Here are the overnight market highlights:

ASX futures were down 11 points near 6.45am AEST
AUD flat at 68.82 US cents
On Wall St: Dow -0.4% S&P 500 -0.3% Nasdaq -0.5%
In New York, BHP -1.1% Rio -0.5% Atlassian +0.6%
In Europe: Stoxx 50 flat FTSE +0.1% CAC -0.1% DAX +0.2%
Spot gold flat at $US1274.65 at 1.30pm New York time
Brent crude -2.2% to $US70.61 a barrel
US oil -3.2% to $US61.11 a barrel
Iron ore +3.7% to $US105.78 a tonne
Dalian iron ore +1% to 729 yuan
LME aluminium -1% to $US1779 a tonne
LME copper -1.1% to $US5928 a tonne
2-year yield: US 2.22% Australia 1.19%
5-year yield: US 2.18% Australia 1.26%
10-year yield: US 2.38% Australia 1.63% Germany -0.09%
10-year US/Australia yield gap near 6.45am AEST: 75 basis points

Lithium miner Kidman Resources has accepted the takeover from Wesfarmers after an exclusive period of due diligence was completed.

The two companies have entered into a scheme implementation deed which will see Wesfarmers acquire 100 per cent of Kidman's shares, when the scheme is implemented.

Kidman's directors and major shareholder said they intend to support the $1.90 a share offer.

"We are pleased to recommend this attractive all-cash transaction with Wesfarmers to our shareholders," said Kidman chairman John Pizzey.

US Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting agreed that their current patient approach to setting monetary policy could remain in place "for some time", a further sign policymakers see little need to change rates in either direction.

According to minutes of the Fed's April 30-May 1 meeting, officials also delved deep into the mechanics of how they could best structure their holdings of several trillion dollars of securities to battle a future economic downturn.

They quickly hit a dilemma as they discussed what could be a several years plan to structure perhaps $US3.5 to $US4 trillion of assets to either reflect existing market holdings of US Treasuries, or to be focused on shorter-term maturities.

Read the full story here.

Good morning and welcome to Markets Live for Thursday.

Your editor today is William McInnes.

Australian shares are poised to move lower this morning however we've seen the market recover from opening losses twice already this week so anything is possible.

This blog is not intended as investment advice.