Financial market expectations for another 0.25 percentage point interest rate cut in August fell despite labour data showing the unemployment rate had not changed at 5.2 per cent.

In the first labour force reading since the Reserve Bank cut the official interest rate to a record low of 1 per cent this month, the economy created just 500 new jobs in June – well below expectations of a gain of 9,000 new positions.

There was 21,100 full-time jobs created in February in seasonally adjusted terms, while the number of part-time jobs decreased by 20,600.

In the lead up to the important job figures, financial markets were pricing in a 18 per cent chance of another 0.25 percentage point rate cut in August. That fell to 10 per cent following the numbers.

Matthew Cranston has the full story here.

An income strategy managed by Martin Currie has been crowned the best performing Australian shares fund for 2018-19 by Mercer, in a year when the median manager failed to beat the market return.

The Martin Currie Australia real income fund overseen by Ashton Reid delivered 18.8 per cent before fees, followed by BlackRock's Australia equitised long-short fund with 17.5 per cent, and the AMP Capital sustainable share fund with 17.1 per cent.

The median manager among 134 strategies measured in the Australian shares category delivered a 9 per cent return before fees, trailing the S&P/ASX 300 Index return of 11.4 per cent in the year ended June 30 and S&P/ASX 200 Index return of 11.5 per cent, according to Mercer's figures published on Thursday.

Vesna Poljak has the full story here.

Australian shares are still sitting lower through the afternoon.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 18.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6654.6.

BHP Group has dropped 1.5 per cent, CIMIC Group has dipped 17.9 per cent and Woodside Petroleum is down 2.3 per cent.

Pilbara Minerals is down 5.1 per cent, Magellan Financial Group has slid 4.9 per cent and Beach Energy is down 4.9 per cent.

Diagnostic imaging technology company Imagion Biosytem's shares have soared more than 200 per cent on Thursday after announcing it had received notification from the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its MagSense System and Test for staging HER2 breast cancer had qualified for and been granted designation as a Breakthrough Device.

"The FDA's designation of our MagSense technology and HER2 test as a Breakthrough Device is a significant step in our clinical development program" said executive chairman Bob Proulx.

"Qualifying as a Breakthrough Device will allow us to expedite our dialogue with the agency and validates that our MagSense technology is not just another medical device but, indeed, represents a transformative opportunity for healthcare and could improve the standard of care for staging HER2 breast cancer."

Read the full announcement here.

Bank of America lowered its annual net interest income guidance to reflect a weakened interest rate environment as the second-largest US lender reported higher-than expected earnings fuelled by strong consumer trends.

Rate trends have prompted the bank to scale back its expected full-year net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, to 2 per cent from 3 per cent, executives said on a conference call with analysts.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned from lending and how much the bank pays for deposits, rose 6 per cent last year.

Its interest margin fell in the second quarter to 2.44 per cent from 2.51 per cent three months earlier, though it was still higher than a year earlier.

Read the full story here.

Oil and gas producer Santos is forecasting a further pick-up in production this December half after posting a 32 per cent jump in output to a record in the first half of 2019.

Chief executive Kevin Gallagher said production in the second quarter was hit by scheduled maintenance that took place at fields in the Cooper Basin and at the PNG LNG venture in Papua New Guinea.

"With this maintenance activity now mostly behind us, we currently expect stronger production in the second half," Mr Gallagher said in a quarterly report on Thursday.

Revenues in the June quarter slipped by 5 per cent from the March quarter, however, to $US959 million ($1.37 billion) due to lower average LNG and domestic gas prices and the timing of export shipments. First half revenues rose 18 per cent to $US1.974 billion, also a record.

Angela Macdonald-Smith has the full story here.

Woolworths has announced the first three Big W stores that will close as part of the company's plan to contain losses from the languishing retail chain.

Big W stores in Chullora, Auburn and Fairfield will shut their doors by January 2020 in a move that managing director David Walker said was not taken lightly.

"We would like to acknowledge the support of the communities of Chullora, Auburn and Fairfield and the hard work and commitment of our store team members," Mr Walker said.

"Over the next six months, we will support our team and explore redeployment opportunities with team members who choose to continue their career at BIG W or with other Woolworths Group brands in the months ahead."

Dominic Powell has the full story here.

Australian shares are trading lower through the middle of the session, held lower by the banks and energy stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 20.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6652.8.

BHP Group is weighing down 1.1 per cent, CIMIC Group has plummeted 19.1 per cent and Westpac has slid 0.8 per cent.

Magellan Financial Group has slid 5 per cent, Eclipx Group is down 4.3 per cent and Oil Search is 3.9 per cent lower.