Good morning traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers. Which companies are going to get their quarterlies out on time, who’s going to try and sneak the through late night, and who’s going to be sitting in the naughty chair come tomorrow morning. Always an interesting day on the calendar.

ASX Market Report

The Australian share market has had its worst day in three weeks with the financial and energy sectors weighing heavily as analysts await economic clues from the US and China.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished 26.1 points, or 0.41 per cent, lower to 6,359.5 points at 1615 AEST on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 23.6 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 6,449.6 amid thin volumes.

IG Market analyst Kyle Rodda said it had been a mostly flat day across Asian markets with Japan on a 10-day holiday, though industrial profit reports had begun to flow from China. He said the China data, as well as the highly anticipated meeting of the US Federal Reserve, were at the forefront of analysts' minds this week. "There has been a little activity in (Australian) energy stocks, but otherwise we're in a little bit of a trading vacuum until we can get into some solid data next week," Mr Rodda said. "Data out of China will be significant to watch - and the US Fed meeting will be particularly important, something we might feel the impact of here."

The domestic energy sector suffered a 0.74 per cent drop after US President Donald Trump pressured the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise crude production to ease petrol prices at the weekend. Santos, Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search, Origin Energy and Beach Energy were down between 0.4 per cent and 1.24 per cent.

All four major banks were lower as all but CBA prepare to release their first-half results over the next week, dragging down the heavyweight financial sector by 0.6 per cent. ANZ was down 0.26 per cent to $27.33, Commonwealth was down 0.45 per cent to $75.11, NAB was down 0.9 per cent to $25.44, and Westpac was down 0.58 per cent to $27.58.

The relatively small property trusts sector was the biggest loser in percentage terms, dropping 1.76 per cent.

In materials, mining giant BHP was up 0.59 per cent to $37.82, Rio Tinto was up 0.13 per cent to $97.75, and Fortescue Metals was up 0.83 per cent to $7.25.

Buy-now-pay-later company Zip Co climbed 16.53 per cent to $2.89, and rival Splitit pay surged 25.41 per cent to $1.16 after both firms released positive quarterly updates. Afterpay Touch rose 4.62 per cent to $24.92.

Coles lifted 0.32 per cent to $12.64 after reporting a 2.1 per cent increase in third-quarter food and liquor sales that the supermarket said was helped by its children-focused collectables campaign.

The Australian dollar was worth 70.55 US cents, up from 70.25 on Friday.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 26.1 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 6,359.5 points at 1615 AEST on Monday

* The All Ordinaries was down 23.6 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 6,449.6

* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was down 27 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 6,341.0.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 70.55 US cents, from 70.15 on Friday

* 78.78 Japanese yen, from 78.28

* 63.22 euro cents, from 63.00

* 54.56 British pence, from 54.40

* 105.71 NZ cents, from 105.74

Global Markets Report

A jump in U.S. consumer spending propelled U.S. shares to a record high on Monday and global equities edged upwards, helping offset a weak euro zone sentiment survey and political uncertainty over Spain’s elections.

Major U.S. indexes advanced modestly, with the S&P 500 topping its intraday record of 2,940.91 set on Sept. 21 with a session high of 2,949.52. The benchmark index posted a record closing high last week but had been unable to pierce the intraday mark. Both the S&P and Nasdaq closed at record levels again on Monday.

Economic data showed U.S. consumer spending surged 0.9% in March, the most in more than 9-1/2 years, although inflation remained subdued, supporting the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to hold off on further U.S. interest rate hikes this year.

Sentiment for stocks on Wall Street was also buoyed by the brightening picture of corporate profits, putting some concerns about a possible earnings recession at bay. Refinitiv data showed a 0.2% decline in earnings reports to date for the quarter, a solid improvement from the 2% decline expected at the start of the month. “It does create pressure to bring more buyers. Today’s headline augments the fear of missing out,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis. “It’s going to make the bears less bearish or more worried they’re going to get run over.” The Fed is due to meet this week and will issue its latest policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.06 points, or 0.04%, to 26,554.39, the S&P 500 gained 3.14 points, or 0.11%, to 2,943.02 and the Nasdaq Composite added 15.46 points, or 0.19%, to 8,161.85.

European shares ended a choppy session slightly higher, as investors chose to focus on the positives of a weekend win for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling socialists in Spain’s third election in four years. Spain’s IBEX 35 index managed to rally after falling nearly 1% to end the session 0.12% higher, and Spanish government bond yields dipped after Sanchez overcame a challenge from right-wing nationalists in elections on Sunday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.08% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.16%.

U.S. Treasury yields rose in the wake of the consumer spending data, while the dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies as traders awaited more data to convince them whether to add to their bullish positions in the greenback. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 7/32 in price to yield 2.527%, from 2.504% late on Friday.

The dollar index fell 0.17%, with the euro up 0.31% to $1.1183.

Oil prices pared early losses of more than $1 a barrel, after dropping nearly 3% on Friday when the market tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that producer group OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran. U.S. crude settled up 0.32% at $63.50 per barrel and Brent was last at $72.04, down 0.15% on the day.

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