Australia

The local share market is expected to start the day higher after most base metals prices finished the offshore session higher, and Wall Street put in another mixed performance.
At 7am (AEST), the Australian share price futures index was up 12 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 6092 points.
In the US, the Dow Jones index was flat and the S&P 500 fell 0.23 per cent, as stocks seesawed between positive and negative territory as strong economic data was offset by disappointing earnings reports from several companies.
Copper prices hit a one-week high as the greenback weakened and financial markets waited for the outcome of China-US trade talks in Beijing.
The Australian share market yesterday posted its fifth straight day of gains, fuelled by miners, retailers and IT stocks, taking the share market’s major indexes to a three month high..
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 48.1 points, or 0.8 per cent at 6098.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 50.3 points, or 0.82 per cent, at 6187 points.
Out today: RBA monetary policy statement, which includes the central bank’s latest economic forecasts.
Macquarie Group full-year results.

Asia

Asian shares slipped on Thursday as hopes waned for real progress in China-US trade talks, while the US dollar consolidated recent bumper gains after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes.
Souring the mood were reports the Trump administration is considering executive action to restrict some Chinese companies' ability to sell telecoms equipment in the US.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 per cent, while South Korean stocks stumbled 0.7 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index skidded 1.3 per cent but Chinese shares bucked the trend. The blue chip CSI 300 was up 0.8 per cent but not far from an eight-month low hit in April.
Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday.

Europe

Britain’s top share index slipped on Thursday as a tumble in Smith & Nephew’s shares and weakness across financials and health stocks dragged the FTSE 100 off a three-month high.
Despite a firmer start to trading and a weaker pound, the blue chip FTSE 100 turned lower and ended the session down 0.54 per cent at 7502.69 points, only slightly outperforming a negative European market.
Germany's DAX 30 was down 0.88 per cent, and France’s CAC40 fell 0.5 per cent.
Results dominated trading with sharp falls for some stocks, but investors remained positive on the overall picture for the UK earnings season.
Shares in Smith & Nephew had their worst performance in close to 10 years, down 7 per cent after Europe’s biggest artificial hip and knee maker downgraded its revenue and profit forecasts following a weak first quarter.

North America

The S&P 500 ended lower on Thursday after a choppy session as disappointing earnings reports from several companies offset strong economic data.
A sharp drop after the open had pushed the S&P 500 and the Dow below their 200-day moving averages, a key technical indicator of longer-term momentum. But both indexes pared losses to rise back above those levels, with the Dow edging up slightly by the market’s close.
The Dow rose 5.17 points, or 0.02 per cent, to close at 23,930.15, the S&P 500 lost 5.94 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 2629.73 and the Nasdaq fell 12.75 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 7088.15.
Shares of insurer American International Group and drug distributor Cardinal Health plunged after the companies reported quarterly results. AIG, down 5.3 per cent, and Cardinal Health, down 21.4 per cent, were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.
Despite an overall strong earnings season, investors have seized upon hints that corporate profits may have peaked.
US economic data provided a more upbeat outlook. The number of Americans receiving unemployment aid fell to its lowest since 1973, and the US trade deficit narrowed for the first time in seven months. Factory orders for March also rose.
The Fed left rates unchanged but said inflation has moved closer to its 2 per cent target.

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Lex Hall is a Morningstar content editor, based in Sydney.

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