Happy Friday traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers. US markets flat overnight with not a lot to send the markets in either direction.

Happy Friday traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers.

ASX Market Report

The ASX200 has closed higher for the first time in five days, driven by the energy and tech sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 18.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6179.6 points at 1615 AEDT on Thursday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 20.8 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 6266.8.

"Good to see the market doing well," with most sectors up despite weak economic figures out of China, said Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee.

Energy shares led gains, up a collective 1.44 per cent, while the utilities sector had the largest losses, down 0.4 per cent.

Oil futures rallied more than one per cent overnight as Saudi Arabia pledged to cut exports and a blackout in Venezuela disrupted both production and exports, helping Santos, Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search, Beach Energy add between 1.39 per cent and 3.48 per cent.

Mining giant BHP was up 0.79 per cent, Rio Tinto was up 0.95 per cent and Fortescue Metals was up 0.46 per cent.

Gold miners gained after the price of the yellow metal hit a two-week high, Northern Star up one per cent and Evolution Mining up 1.64 per cent. Newcrest Mining was flat, however.

The big four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac - were down between 0.16 per cent and 0.67 per cent, with ANZ the worst hit. Ms Lee said the financial sector was under pressure because of indications that increased capital requirements by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand would force Australian banks - particularly ANZ - to partially sell their New Zealand assets.

Kogan was up 8.12 per cent after it launched a marketplace for online retailers in a bid to fend off US-based rival Amazon.

Stockland was up 0.81 per cent after the property investment company said it sold off a shopping mall and a retail and commercial centre in Brisbane.

Retail Food Group was down 5.13 per cent after it was slammed by a slammed by a parliamentary inquiry over its treatment of franchisees.

Telstra was flat and pharma giant CSL was down 0.08 per cent.

The gains came despite China's industrial output and retail sales figures for the first two months of the year showed slowing growth.

National Australia Bank said in a commentary that it appeared China's manufacturing conditions remain weak, consistent with NAB's view that China's economic growth will keep easing this year.

The Aussie dollar is buying 70.62 US cents, up from 70.96 on Wednesday.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 18.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6,179.6 points at 1630 AEDT on Thursday.

* The All Ordinaries was up 20.8 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 6,266.8.

* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was up 25 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 6187.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 70.62 US cents, from 70.96 US on Wednesday

* 78.79 Japanese yen, from 78.86

* 62.39 euro cents, from 62.63

* 53.31 British pence, from 53.20

* 103.25 NZ cents, from 103.47

GOLD:

The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1630 AEDT was $US1303.72 per fine ounce, from $US1309.09 on Wednesday.

In Asia

Asian shares stumbled on Thursday after Chinese data signalled further weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent after treading water for most part of the day.

Chinese shares were the biggest drag on the index after data showed growth in the country’s industrial output fell to a 17-year low. A mixed bag of major data also showed property investment is picking up, while overall retail sales were sluggish.

Shanghai’s SSE Composite index stumbled 1.2 percent in the aftermath of the figures which suggested more support measures from Beijing were likely, while the blue-chip CSI 300 slipped 0.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei gave up early gains to end nearly flat.

Investors were keenly watching the data for clues about the health of China’s economy after growth cooled to 6.6 percent last year.

Despite China’s slowing growth, Asian markets have had an impressive rally this year, with the MSCI index climbing about 10 percent largely after the U.S. Federal Reserve all but abandoned its rate hike plans.

Analysts, however, remain sceptical about how much further the share rally would run as slowing global growth, weak corporate earnings and trade tensions between the United States and China hang heavy on risk assets.

“Before we conclude that this market still has decent legs, we’d like to see equity prices supported by stronger macro data, lifted by better earnings trends, and confirmed by stable-to-rising yields,” David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis, said in a note titled ‘Rally vs Reality’.

The state of U.S.-China trade talks also weighed on investors after President Donald Trump said he was in no rush to complete an agreement. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had been expected to hold a summit at the president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting.

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In Europe

Sentiment improved from cautious to upbeat after the open, ahead of another vote on Thursday evening that could delay Britain’s planned departure from the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up 0.7 percent, while British blue chips rose 0.5 percent.

“We now see a 60 percent chance (up from 55 percent) that a close variant of the prime minister’s current Brexit deal is eventually ratified,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote. The probability of a no-deal Brexit was now 5 percent, they said.

Leonardo scored its best day in more than 7 years, up 13 percent, recouping some of its steep losses since January 2018, after the Italian defense group said net profit surged and it saw sales rising in 2019.

Germany’s GEA rose 11 percent after its CEO said it will announce changes to its structure in June, while France’s Lagardere gained 8 percent after giving more details about its divestment plans.

Among the fallers, Lufthansa posted the worst performance after reporting an 11 percent decline in fourth-quarter operating profits. Its shares fell 6.3 percent.

RWE slipped in early trade after it forecast core earnings might fall by one-fifth this year, but managed to progressively recover to end up 1.8 percent. Analysts at UBS affirmed their buy rating on the stock, saying the disappointing guidance is mostly due to one-off and temporary effects.

European shares rose to a five-month high on Thursday, boosted by strength in the banking sector after Britain’s parliament voted to reject a disorderly Brexit.

Trade-sensitive autos ended flat after a Bloomberg report said China and the United States are likely to push back a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to end a prolonged spat over trade to April at the earliest.

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In the United States

U.S. stocks were little changed in late afternoon trading on Thursday amid uncertainty over when a trade deal between the United States and China would be reached.

President Donald Trump said the United States was doing very well in trade talks with China, but could not say whether a final deal would be reached.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been expected to hold a summit at the president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that a meeting between the two was more likely to take place in April at the earliest.

Chipmakers, which rely on China for a large portion of their revenue also lost ground with the Philadelphia SE chip index off 0.5 percent.

“The good news is mildly negative news on China trade doesn’t tip the apple cart over anymore,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York. “But breaking out of the next level of resistance has been a wall to get through. It shows we’re probably range-bound 2,750 to 2,800 until we get answers to China trade, Brexit etc.”

In the latest of a series of votes, British lawmakers on Thursday approved by 412 votes to 202 a motion setting out the option to request a short delay if a Brexit deal can be agreed by March 20 — or a longer delay if no deal can be agreed in time.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.58 points, or 0.01 percent, to 25,701.31, the S&P 500 lost 2.68 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,808.24 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.06 points, or 0.13 percent, to 7,633.34.

Boeing, the single largest U.S. exporter to China, slipped 0.8 percent. The world’s largest planemaker had its own troubles this week after its money-spinning 737 MAX jets were grounded globally following a recent fatal crash in Ethiopia.

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Australian News

The head of the corporate watchdog has slammed the attitude of some senior bankers who have warned against strict new regulation in a fresh sign the sector has not take the Hayne royal commission seriously. ASIC chairman James Shipton said some anonymous comments by senior bankers in the press had been counterproductive and implied the regulator was on a "frolic".
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The $47 billion in deductions claimed against rental income every year will face tougher scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office after more than 300 audits of investor returns revealed errors in nearly 90 per cent of cases. More than 2.1 million Australian taxpayers declare rental income to the Tax Office each year, but a check of returns has unearthed widespread errors in the popular tax deduction.
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CBA suspends mortgage broking demerger. Commonwealth Bank says it is suspending plans to demerge its mortgage broking and wealth management businesses.
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National Australia Bank’s online and mobile sites were down for over an hour this evening, leaving customers unable to access their accounts. Customers were greeted by a message which said “NAB Internet Banking is currently unavailable.
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Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority has sensationally withdrawn its controversial zero carbon emission guidelines and will go back to consultation in the wake of a government-hosted industry roundtable in Perth on Thursday. The meeting was led by WA Premier Mark McGowan and included high-level representatives from oil and gas giants Shell, Santos, Chevron, Woodside, and industry groups.

Australasian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference 2019: WA can cash in on greener, more thoughtful world
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Zinc hits 8-month high on shrinking stocks. Shrinkingzinc stocks on the London Metal Exchange prompted the metal to hit an eight-month high
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One of the country’s biggest food companies, which operates Gloria Jeans, Brumby’s, Crust Gourmet Pizza and Donut King, has been slammed by a parliamentary inquiry. A bipartisan committee investigating issues with franchise business models was scathing in its assessment of the “unethical” and “incompetent” practices of Retail Food Group.
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The consumer watchdog has the capacity to track how algorithms used by big tech companies work and will act to protect the interests of small businesses, its chairman says. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald smaller businesses and startups are not the focus of the watchdog's scrutiny of big data and the use of algorithms.
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The Australian arm of global retail chain Build-A-Bear Workshop has been placed into administration, with two of the company’s three WA stores to close within weeks. Its store at Lakeside Joondalup will continue trading but administrators Matt Sweeny and Gideon Rathner from Lowe Lippman have said Garden City and Carousel would go by the end of the month after they were appointed yesterday.
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Stock News

Cantor Fitzgerald keeps ‘buy’ on 88 Energy despite chopping back its target price after Winx-1 disappointment. The City broker's analysts said: “Focus will now shift to the proposed farm-out of the Icewine conventional portfolio, where a deal is targeted this quarter”
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Infinity Lithium in trading halt pending the release of acquisition details. The company aims to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its San Jose project in Spain.
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Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor has called on AGL to commit to its energy replacement plan ahead of the planned closure of the Liddell power plant. In 2017, former AGL chief executive Andy Vesey announced a three-phase plan to replace the 1680 megawatts lost when the NSW Hunter Valley-based Liddell plant closes in 2022.
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Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd (ASX:CVN) non-executive director Gavin Ryan has purchased 159,140 shares through on-market trades. The purchase amounted to $69,936 and has increased Ryan’s total holding in the company to 229,240 shares (direct and indirect interests).
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Southern Gold non-executive chairman shows faith in company through on-market purchase
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Management shake-up at Flanagan’s Battery Minerals
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Long list of safety issues at Clive Palmer's Yabulu nickel refinery revealed. Leaking chemicals, a disintegrating asbestos roof and crumbling structures are among the list of concerns recently raised by authorities looking into Clive Palmer's nickel refinery near Townsville in north Queensland.
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Hammer Metals Ltd (ASX:HMX) has agreed to acquire the Bronzewing South Gold Projectin the heart of the Yandal greenstone belt in WA. The agreement is subject to approval under section 195(4) of the Corporations Act.
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Salt Lake Potash well on track with development work at Lake Way. Salt Lake Potash has plenty of cash to continue with ongoing evaporation trials
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Global News

U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that discussions with China to end a months-long trade war are progressing quickly, though Trump said he could not say whether a final deal would be reached.
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Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it will invest $749 million in five U.S. plants and add 586 jobs as it boosts engine production capacity and adds new hybrid models to its lineup.
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How eSports became a big business for Razer
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Facebook struggles to deal with epic outage. A partial Facebook outage affecting users around the world has stretched beyond 14 hours, but was showing some signs of ending early Thursday. It's believed to be the biggest interruption ever suffered by the social network.
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For the first time, Coca-Cola has revealed it used three million tonnes of plastic packaging in one year. It's part of a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which is pushing for companies and governments to do more to tackle plastic pollution.
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The latest bad news for Boeing arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The United States joined other countries and grounded its 737 Max planes. Shares of Boeing (BA) fell 3% immediately after President Donald Trump announced the move from the White House.
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Boeing 737 Max aircraft grounded 'until May at least'
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Prime Minister Theresa May piled pressure on rebel lawmakers on Thursday to back her battered European Union divorce deal as parliament prepared to vote on seeking a delay to Britain’s departure that could ultimately derail the process.
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BMW and Daimler are in talks to cooperate in developing vehicle platforms for electric cars in a step that could save each carmaker at least 7 billion euros ($7.91 billion), Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Auto Bild said on Thursday.
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How Russia sank billions of dollars into Venezuelan quicksand
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China foreign investment: How doing business will change
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China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment filed in a New York federal court against the company, as tensions have ratcheted up between the U.S. and Beijing.
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Breakfast thisaway; please don't eat the plants, they are for decoration only.