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

Markets pretty quiet overnight, the US markets still pretty flat.

 

ASX Market Report

Australian shares rebounded from some of their lows in the morning but have still closed lower for the first time in a week.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 18.1 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 6,199.3 points at 1615 AEDT on Tuesday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 21.1 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 6,281.4.

"Equities, they've had a bit of a damp day really, and haven't been able to recover," said Nick Twidale, chief operating officer with Rakuten Securities in Sydney.

Mr Twidale said the markets were in a wait-and-see mode as investors ponder the chances of an end to the US-China trade war at the March 27 summit; Brexit, set for March 29; whether China will announce stimulus measures at the National People's Congress, underway now in Beijing; and Australia's 2018 GDP figures, which will be announced on Wednesday. "We need clarity on data to show us the way forward," Mr Twidale said. "The markets trading in a confused manner. It's going to continue to swing in line with sentiment until we get some more data."

There was a little bit of data to digest on Tuesday, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics announcing that net exports were slightly larger drag on the economy than expected, but a 1.6 per cent increase in government consumption had made up for it.

Also on Wednesday, the Reserve Bank announced it was keeping the official cash rate at a record low of 1.5 per cent for a 31st month, a move widely expected.

On the ASX, the consumer discretionary sector led losses, and was down 0.85 per cent.

Flight Centre was down 4.33 per cent, Harvey Norman was down 3.68 per cent and Tabcorp was down 1.46 per cent.

Consumer staples led gainers, up 0.91 per cent, with Woolworths up 1.64 per cent and Metcash up 4.87 per cent.

The falls come after the Ai Group's Performance of Services Index released on Tuesday showed retail trade contracting in February to its lowest level since 2012 as consumer spending dried up.

Elsewhere, among the major miners, BHP was down 0.85 per cent and Rio Tinto was down 0.85 per cent.

The big four banks were mixed, with ANZ down 0.5 per cent, NAB and Westpac flat and Commonwealth up 0.32 per cent.

Telco Telstra closed up 0.96 per cent, while pharma giant CSL was down 0.46 per cent.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 18.1 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 6,199.3 points at 1630 AEDT on Tuesday.

* The All Ordinaries was down 21.1 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 6,281.4.

* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was flat at 6180.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 70.78 US cents, from 70.91 US on Monday

* 79.22 Japanese yen, from 79.39

* 62.48 euro cents, from 62.40

* 53.78 British pence, from 53.57

* 104.16 NZ cents, from 104.16

GOLD:

The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1630 AEDT was $US1288.22 per fine ounce, from $US1293.83 on Monday.

In Asia

Asian shares stepped back on Tuesday, weighed by U.S. economic concerns and as China cut its growth target in the face of intensifying challenges from rising debt and a dispute over trade and technology with the United States.

Beijing lowered the growth target for this year to 6.0 to 6.5 percent, as expected, from around 6.5 percent last year and offered more stimulus, including cuts in taxes and social security fees, increases in infrastructure investment and lending to small firms.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.15 percent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.4 percent.

While Asian shares were broadly weaker, China’s spending plans gave mainland markets some support with the blue-chip CSI300 index briefly gaining as much as 0.5 percent to extend Monday’s nine-month high. It later gave up most of the gains to stand 0.1 percent higher.

“As further details of the economic package will be rolled out in coming days, Chinese share markets could extend gains further near-term,” said Wang Shenshen, strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.

Reflecting lower tax revenue and higher government spending, Beijing has set a budget deficit target of 2.8 percent of GDP, up from last year’s 2.6 percent.

The Finance Ministry set the quota for local government’s special bond issues at 2.15 trillion yuan ($320 billion), 0.8 trillion yuan above last year’s quota.

“The increase in local governments’ special bond is fairly large,” said Naoto Saito, chief researcher at Daiwa Institute of Research.

“Since those funds will be solely used for infrastructure investments, you cannot avoid the impression that the government is relying on investments to support the economy in the short-term rather than de-leveraging. This could cause problems in the longer term.”

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In Europe

European stocks edged higher at the close of a choppy and directionless session where indexes hovered around the flotation mark in the lack of news about Sino/U.S. trade talk.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.2 percent after trading in the red for part of the day, extending a three-day rally into four straight days of gains.

“There seemed to be no overriding theme to Tuesday’s trading”, wrote Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex.

Noting buoyant U.S. family homes sales and positive data for the services sector, Stephane Ekolo, an equity strategist at Tradition in London, said “positive datapoint in the U.S. somehow gave a bit of respite”.

Equities also briefly perked up after euro-zone data showed business activity accelerated more than expected last month, helping offset downbeat news from China.

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In the United States

U.S. stocks struggled for direction on Tuesday, as a lack of fresh cues on U.S.-China trade negotiations curbed investor appetite despite upbeat profit forecasts from retailers.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump will reject any deal that was not perfect, but added the United States will keep working on an agreement.

Wall Street kicked off the day on a muted note after losing ground on Monday, when the S&P 500 failed to close above the 2,800-point mark for the second session in a row.

“People are looking at the trade talks and how that gets negotiated through and that’s not something you can quantify so that is why you are sitting in a very tight range,” said Matt Lloyd, chief investment officer, Advisors Asset Management in Monument, Colorado. “There is no outright move in markets. There is no reason to buy and there is no reason to sell so people are maintaining their cash positions.”

The S&P 500 has climbed about 11 percent in 2019 and is now about 5 percent away from its Sept.20 record closing high, helped by a dovish stance from the Federal Reserve and on hopes the United States and China would soon hammer out a trade solution.

At 12:45 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.33 points, or 0.01 percent, at 25,817.32, the S&P 500 was down 2.44 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,790.37 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.67 points, or 0.04 percent, at 7,580.24.

Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings to fall 1.3 percent year-over-year, compared with prior expectations of 5.3 percent rise at the start of the year, according to Refinitiv data. It will be the first drop in quarterly earnings growth since 2016.

On the macro front, ISM’s non-manufacturing activity index showed a reading of 59.7 in February, better than estimates of 57.3, while another report showed new U.S. single-family homes rose to a seven-month high in December.

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Australian News

Australia's current account deficit has narrowed 33 per cent to $7.2 billion in the three months to December as higher commodity prices boosted the value of exports. The current account deficit decreased from the September quarter's $10.78 billion, Tuesday's seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. 
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Retail trade contracted in February to its lowest level since 2012 as consumer spending dried up, a trend reading by an industry index suggests. The Ai Group's Performance of Services Index released on Tuesday recorded a second straight month of contraction in the Australian services sector in February. 
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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held official interest rates at 1.5 per cent for the 27th consecutive meeting despite continuing signs the economy is struggling. The decision to stay put was expected by financial markets and analysts. 
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Australia at risk of US-style inequality and dead end jobs, warns ACTU. "Anaemic" wages growth, a widening gap between rich and poor and a "powerful elite" of banks, insurers and multinationals are the main outcomes for Australians from 27 years without a recession. 
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Retirees are being blocked from accessing the money trapped in their property as banks pull out of the reverse mortgage market, fuelling a growing income inequality among older Australians. A new report has warned Baby Boomers have been dudded by only having half of their working lives to accrue super, while having most of their wealth tied up in the family home - putting a strain on families and the government to finance a rapidly growing ageing population. 
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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. Approvals for private sector houses were up 2.1 per cent in the month in seasonally adjusted terms, while the "other dwellings" category, which includes apartment blocks and townhouses, rose 2.7 per cent. 
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Drought wipes billions from Australian farm production. The value of all that is farmed in Australia has fallen to $58 billion, from $63.8 billion two years ago. 
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Future Fund chairman Peter Costello said security concerns should ultimately outweigh economic issues in Australia's relationship with China, if the nation were ever forced to choose between the two. With China's role attracting growing scrutiny from security agencies in recent years, Mr Costello said there had been a broad shift in how China was viewed since he was federal treasurer, between 1996 and 2007. 
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The tax office has admitted it will waive penalties for hundreds of businesses that have admitted failures to pay superannuation to their staff in the wake of a 'botched' amnesty. The proposed amnesty to employers who failed to pay super entitlements stretching back to the early 1990s, was a federal government initiative rolled out in May last year to encourage employers to “wipe the slate clean” and pay workers their super entitlements. 
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Australia's super-sized pool of superannuation savings is attracting more high-profile companies looking for reliable funding sources, with household names like McDonald's and General Motors issuing their first Australian-dollar bonds. 
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From a private jet to a police cell: Rosemary Rogers charged over alleged NAB fraud 
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'Perfect market storm': Orica chief calls for gas export controls. The chief executive of explosives manufacturer, Orica, Alberto Calderon, has called on the government to ensure domestic gas demand is met before allowing exports in order to safeguard the local industry. Speaking at the Australian Domestic Gas Outlook (ADGO) Conference on Tuesday, former BHP executive Mr Calderon, said manufacturing would not survive unless the government used a gas export cap to address domestic gas shortages and high prices. 
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Nickel prices climbed to a six-month peak overnight as expectations of a fourth consecutive year of supply deficit were reinforced by signs of robust demand from stainless steel mills in China. 
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Global News

US President Donald Trump announced plans Monday to end special trade treatment for India, accusing it of unfairly shutting out American businesses. In a letter to Congress, Trump signaled his intent to remove India from a program that gives developing countries easier access to US markets. 
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Shares of U.S. retail and consumer goods companies appear set to emerge largely unscathed from the trade dispute between the United States and China. But the conflict could leave behind negative effects on the supply chains of some companies in the industry, which could narrow their profit margins and eventually weigh on their stock prices. 
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Coca-Cola investors could use some refreshment. Coke is one of the worst performers in the Dow so far this year, and it is one of the biggest losers in the S&P 500, too. 
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Tesla stock slides another 4% as analysts question recent decisions, fret about cash burn 
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A US judge has acquitted a former top foreign exchange trader at Barclays Plc accused of illegally trading ahead of an $US8 billion transaction for Hewlett-Packard Co, without letting the case go to a jury. 
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Brexit talks have made a “shocking” lack of progress which will hurt Britain’s economy over the coming months, the chief executive of British Airways’ owner, IAG, said in the company’s annual report on Tuesday. 
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The UK government drew the wrath of transparency groups on Monday by delaying proposed legislation aimed at ending secret company ownership in offshore territories such as Jersey. Britain has been gradually ramping up its fight against money laundering and various tax avoidance and evasion schemes. 
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Japanese carmaker Nissan is considering cancelling shifts at its major plant in Sunderland in northeast England, threatening 400 jobs, broadcaster Sky News reported on Tuesday. A production line making Qashqai sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and Leaf electric cars may have its number of daily shifts reduced to two from three, Sky said, adding that Nissan described this as “rumour or speculation”. 
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Italy Is Still in the Danger Zone, and Europe Is Nervous. A year after the election that led to Italy’s populists taking power, the economic outlook is more precarious and the warnings across Europe are growing louder. The euro area’s third-largest economy saw a continued slump in manufacturing in February, days after confidence figures reinforced concerns that its recession will linger into 2019. 
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Electric vehicles will take centre stage at this year's Geneva Motor Show, as automakers scramble to bring their fleets in line with strict CO2 emissions standards set to kick in next year. Europe's biggest annual car show, which will open its doors to the media on Tuesday and to the public two days later, has long been synonymous with new lines of powerful and prestigious racing cars and shiny petrol-guzzling SUVs. 
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voiced strong concern Monday after Chinese state media reported that a former Canadian diplomat detained in the country was suspected of spying and stealing state secrets. "We are obviously very concerned with the position that China has taken," Trudeau told reporters, referring to the case of Michael Kovrig, who was detained in December following the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
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Office Depot and Alibaba.com are creating a co-branded online store to expand the reach of both companies with small- and medium-size businesses. The two companies announced the agreement on Monday as part of a broader array of services they are providing to small business. 
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China is slashing business taxes as it tries to stop its economy from slowing down too sharply. The Chinese government on Tuesday predicted economic growth of between 6% and 6.5% in 2019. 
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Stock News

Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX:NTU) has entered into a subscription agreement with Liu Xiaohua for the placement of 60 million ordinary shares at 5 cents each to raise $3 million. Funds raised from the placement will be utilised for ongoing working capital purposes. 
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Alara Resources engages Indian company for engineering work at Al Hadeetha Copper Project 
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Barrick Gold is pressing ahead with a $US18 billion takeover offer for Newmont Mining despite its fellow gold mining giant rejecting the deal. Newmont’s board opposed the hostile bid and instead proposed a joint venture with Barrick which would combine their operations in the US state of Nevada. 
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Coles is offloading management of its 87 pubs in a $200 million deal with private equity-controlled Australian Venue Co. The supermarket giant will set up a 50-50 joint venture with Melbourne-headquartered AVC, which is controlled by KKR & Co, to split the operation of its Spirit Hotels business. At 1020 AEDT, Coles shares had slipped 3.0 cents to $11.37, 9.1 per cent down on their November listing price of $12.49. 
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The former Westfield Group is nearly 40 per cent of the way through its EUR6 billion ($A9.6 billion) asset disposal program after offloading its stake in a Finnish shopping centre for EUR248.6 million ($A398.4 million). Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield says it has sold its 34 per cent stake in Helsinki's Jumbo centre to co-owner Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company for more than its December 31 book value. 
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Nine Entertainment Co's top institutional shareholder has cautioned the diversified media company against buying ad-man John Singleton's shares in radio group Macquarie Media, as contract talks with presenter Alan Jones remain ongoing. Nine, the owner of this newspaper, also controls 54.5 per cent of Macquarie Media following its merger with Fairfax Media last year. 
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TNG Limited (ASX:TNG) is exploring the merits of admitting its securities to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. The company's objective in undertaking a potential dual listing would be to enhance liquidity for shareholders and provide direct access to investors in the London market. 
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Some Champions League football on right now if you swing that way.