Good morning traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers.

US markets hit a bit of a speed bump this morning, as wesaw some volatility creep back in with the Dow enjoying it’s widest infra-day spread since Jan 4,. All of their major indices are slightly weaker by around 0.5%-1%.

ASX Market Report

Australian shares have closed higher, although a broad rally at the open had lost its momentum a bit by the afternoon.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished up 24.7 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6,217.4 points at 1615 AEDT on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 24.7 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 6,320.4.

The index gained 32 points in the first nine minutes of trade and then for the most part sunk lower the rest of the day.

Tech shares were up a collective 2.06 per cent, with Xero up 3.72 per cent and Afterpay Touch up 2.15 per cent.

Consumer staples gained a collective 1.17 per cent, with Woolworths up 1.53 per cent and Coca-Cola Amatail up 3.56 per cent.

There was "a lot of enthusiasm" in the market with clear signs the US and China are close to a deal on trade and a bounce in Australia's building approvals numbers for January, said CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy. "It looks like confidence is on the rise."

The normal safe havens of gold, bonds and the Japanese yen have all moved lower in recent days, while growth assets such as iron ore and oil have increased in value, Mr McCarthy said. There were signs of bargain hunting, as six of the 10 stocks showing the biggest gains were those previously under pressure, Mr McCarthy said.

BHP was up 1.18 per cent and Rio Tinto up 1.59 per cent on higher iron ore prices.

Infant formula makers Bellamy's was up 12 per cent while Bubs Australia was up 10.71 per cent.

The big banks were mixed, with Westpac flat, NAB up 0.2 per cent, ANZ down 0.61 per cent and CBA down 0.4 per cent.

Telco Telstra was unchanged while pharma giant CSL was up 1.66 per cent.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 24.7 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6,217.4 points at 1630 AEDT on Monday.

* The All Ordinaries was up 28.7 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 6,302.5.

* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was down four points, to 6209.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 70.91 US cents, from 70.92 US on Friday

* 79.39 Japanese yen, from 79.23

* 62.40 euro cents, from 62.36

* 53.57 British pence, from 53.48

* 104.16 NZ cents, from 104.04

GOLD:

The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1630 AEDT was $US1293.83 per fine ounce, from $US1312.77 on Friday.

In Asia

Asian shares started the week on the front foot on signs the United States and China were close to striking a tariff deal to end their protracted trade war.

Chinese shares were the biggest gainers, with the blue-chip index up as much as 3 percent. Australian shares rose 0.4 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.7 percent.

That left MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan with gains of 0.3 percent. The index has risen almost 10 percent so far this year. Japan’s Nikkei strengthened more than 1 percent.

“Following a robust recovery for risk assets since the start of the year, a number of events in March are going to set the tone for global investors on whether this rebound is sustainable,” said Tai Hui, Asia Pacific Chief Market Strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

Tai listed the prospective Trump-Xi trade summit among such events while China’s National People’s Congress could provide clues on new policies aimed at boosting Asia’s largest economy.

“These policies will be influential to maintain the upbeat onshore sentiment that has driven a strong rebound in the A-share market,” Tai said.

China’s CSI300 index rallied last week after index provider MSCI quadrupled its weighting for mainland shares in its global benchmarks.

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In Europe

European shares hit five-month highs on Monday with cyclical stocks outperforming defensives, helped by hopes over a deal to end the U.S.-Sino trade war.

The pan-regional STOXX 600 index rose as much as 0.6 percent during the session to its highest level since Oct. 5 before paring some gains and ending up 0.2 percent on the day.

The STOXX 600 is up more than 11 percent so far this year and a Reuters poll last week has shown investors expect the index to end the year near its current levels.

Further weighing toward the end of the session was weaker-than-expected construction data from the United States that pushed Wall Street into negative territory.

Among top movers in Europe on Monday were shares in IAG , which hit a two-month low after the owner of British Airways and Iberia issued a clarification to say its 2019 free cash flow would be lower than last year.

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In the United States

Wall Street’s main indexes reversed from early gains to fall 1 percent on Monday after data showed a surprise drop in December construction spending, which triggered profit-taking and offset optimism that a U.S.-China trade deal was imminent.

A report over the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could sign a formal trade pact at a summit around March 27 sparked a 0.5 percent jump in the S&P 500 index early in the session.

But the benchmark index pared gains after the Commerce Department reported construction spending fell 0.6 percent in December after an unrevised 0.8 percent rise in November, further evidence the economy lost momentum at the end of 2018.

“What pushed investors’ nerves is the fact that we’ve been up such a long time with no reprieve, so the data provided an excuse for investors to take money off the table,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

Hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal and a dovish Federal Reserve has spurred a strong run in stocks. The S&P 500 has surged nearly 11 percent this year and is now about 6 percent away from its Sept.20 record closing high.

The S&P 500 breached 2,800 twice last week, before finally closing above that mark on Friday for the first time since Nov.8.

“Right above the 2,800 level is a significant amount of resistance. Above this level is free air, above it is a return to the highs,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.

All the major S&P sectors fell, with seven indexes posting a more than 1 percent drop. The healthcare sector tumbled 1.85 percent, taking the biggest hit.

At 13:19 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 359.19 points, or 1.38 percent, at 25,667.13, the S&P 500 was down 30.07 points, or 1.07 percent, at 2,773.62 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 71.35 points, or 0.94 percent, at 7,524.00.

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Australian News

A trade deal between Indonesia and Australia has been hailed as sending a timely signal to the world about the importance of free trade.

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The economic policies of the two major parties in federal parliament are more different now than they have been in four decades, according to the prime minister. Mr Morrison is expected to express the sentiment in a speech at a business event in Sydney, stressing policy differences between the coalition government and Labor. 
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Both workers and business owners saw an increase in earnings last quarter, although the results varied greatly depending on which industry they were in. 
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Approvals for the construction of new homes rose 2.5 per cent in January, ending a three-month run of declines. 
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Australian home prices fell 0.7% in February according to new figures released by CoreLogic as the recent downward trend extended beyond the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne to other areas of the country. The latest decline means prices are now 7% lower compared to the peak boom period. The new data showed Darwin had the biggest fall last month with a 1.7% slump during the 28 days, while Perth was not far behind with a 1.5% fall. 
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'We shouldn't be dragged into political debate': super giant hits back. Former Reserve Bank board member Heather Ridout has urged the government to keep superannuation out of politics after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg called for regulators to investigate their ability to stop super funds wielding their influence over companies. Industry Super, which will control up to $1 trillion in assets and shares by 2021, will use its investment arm, IFM Investors, to push climate change priorities onto corporations. 
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Zinc rose on Friday on concern about shortages after inventories slid, but some other industrial metals were softer after factory activity in top metals consumer China contracted 
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Australia’s gold miners are on fire, producing a record 317 tonnes of the precious metal as jittery investors around the world scramble for the ultimate safe-haven investment. Last year’s production eclipsed the 314.5 tonnes mined in 1997 and shows the industry has shaken off the malaise of 10 years ago when just 220 tonnes was pulled out of the ground.
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Australia's hottest summer is hitting its $6.2 billion wine industry, with grape yields set to drop to the lowest in yearsas hopes the heat could produce tastier tipples starting to shrivel like fruit on some vines. 
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New threats for your credit card as scams target online shoppers. As credit card scams continue to climb, cardholders are being warned to better protect themselves from fraudsters who are bypassing improved anti-scam technolog 
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Analysis - Stephen Bartholomeusz: Trump's 'historic' China deal could be a bit of a horror for us. The United States and China appear to be inching towards a deal on trade. If it is as outlined, that might be a relatively good outcome for the US and China but it could be quite damaging for China’s other trading partners. 
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Analysis - Warwick Long: Why cheap cheese is worse for dairy farmers than $1 milk. 
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Global News

Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Monday, boosted by reports that the United States and China could reach a formal agreement as early as this month to end a tit-for-tat trade war that has limited global economic growth. 
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U.S. and China said to appear close to deal to roll back tariffs 
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A strong, improving jobs market outweighs all the bad news recently on the economy 
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Uber, the ridesharing behemoth set to launch a stock offering soon, is aiming beyond sharing car rides to becoming the "Amazon of transportation" in a future where people share instead of owning vehicles. Uber laid out its vision of a transformed world of personal mobility as it steered toward a keenly anticipated stock market debut that will follow an initial public offering of shares by US rideshare rival Lyft announced on Friday. 
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The European Union’s top trade officials will update their U.S. counterparts this week on progress in obtaining a negotiating mandate for a EU-U.S. trade deal on industrial goods and raise concern over existing and potential future U.S. tariffs. 
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Britain’s markets watchdog said it may ban some methods used by brokers to reward car dealers that end up overcharging an estimated 560,000 customers about 300 million pounds a year. 
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Britain’s construction industry reported the first fall in activity in almost a year last month, as Brexit uncertainty and a slow housing market delayed new building projects. 
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Virgin Atlantic removes cabin crew make-up rule 
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Volvo will put a speed limit on its cars as part of its effort to eliminate fatal accidents.The automaker says the limit will stop cars from going faster than 180 kilometers per hour, which works out to 112 mph. 
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Chinese telecoms equipment company Huawei plans to announce a lawsuit against the United States government on Thursday on grounds related to a defense bill, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. 
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India’s next government will have to bring in land, labor and financial sector reforms to improve the productivity of the manufacturing sector and boost economic growth, India’s chief economic adviser said. 
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Stock News

Orion Minerals Ltd (ASX:ORN) has reached agreement with South African institutional investor, the Anglo American sefa Mining Fund (AASMF), resulting in it becoming a shareholder. AASMF will redeem preference shares held in one of Orion’s key project subsidiaries for shares in Orion. 
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Ironbark Zinc major shareholder increases position. The company's flagship project is its Citronen Zinc Project in Greenland. 
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Cobalt Blue welcomes commissioning of water pipeline to Broken Hill. The pipeline will help ensure thesupply of up to 1.5 gigalitres of water annually to service the project's processing and refining requirements. 
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Golden Rim Resources attracts $2.25 million to advance Kouri Gold Project in Burkina Faso 
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Graincorp is selling its Australian bulk liquid terminals business to ANZ Terminals for $350 million as part of its ongoing portfolio review. Graincorp said on Monday it will enter into a long-term storage agreement with ANZ Terminals following the divestment of the eight sites, which store and handle bulk liquid fats and oils, fuels and chemicals. 
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Engage:BDR Ltd (ASX:EN1) has completed its new AdCel software development kit (SDK) ahead of schedule, finalising the technical integration between the two platforms 7 months after AdCel’s acquisition. The new SDK provides an additional way to connect with publishers and the company expects the technology to translate to revenue contribution, hig 
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Crown Resorts is looking at its options after the Victorian government turned down its request to delay the construction start date of Australia's tallest building in Melbourne. The state government approved the $1.75 billion, 90-storey Queensbridge hotel tower two years ago but the casino operator and joint-venture partner Schiavello Group applied for a planning extension last month while they obtained financing. 
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Got ourselves a flash new modern espresso machine in the kitchen.