That's a wrap for today! Thanks for reading today's market blog.

Before I sign off, here's a message from The Business host Kirsten Aiken about what to expect on the show:

Tonight, Rachel Pupazzoni takes a look at increasing mortgage stress among more recent homebuyers

And we preview tomorrow's rates call by the Reserve Bank with Deloitte Access Economics Partner Stephen Smith and UBS Chief Economist Australia George Tharenou.

Tune in at 8.45pm AEST on the ABC News Channel, and any time on ABC iView.

The local share market struggled for direction this afternoon, as it dipped into negative territory ahead of tomorrow's Reserve Bank decision.

In the end, the ASX 200 was practically flat. It closed 0.1% higher at 7,410 points.

Most sectors finished higher, led by industrials (+1%) and healthcare (+0.6%), while utilities (-0.5%) and consumer staples (-0.7%) were the worst-performing sectors.

• ASX 200: +0.1% at 7,410 points
  
• Australian dollar: +0.7% to 66.94 US cents
• Nikkei: +1.3% to 33,172 points
• Hang Seng: +1.2% to 20,163 points
• Shanghai Composite: +0.2% to 3,284 points
• Dow Jones: +0.5% to 35,459 points
• S&P 500: +1% to 4,582 points
• Nasdaq Composite: +1.9% to 14,317points
• Spot gold: -0.1% at $US1,957/ounce
• Brent crude: -0.5% to $US84.57/barrel
• Iron ore: +0.1% to $US106.80/tonne
• Bitcoin: +0.3% to $US29,46027

Infant formula maker Bubs Australia has revealed its sales in China have plunged even further, as it takes legal action against its Hong Kong-based distributor AZ Global.

Bubs reported that its China sales slumped 96% in the June quarter.

"As a consequence of the excess stock-in-trade and the ongoing dispute with Willis and Alice, sales into China remain subdued," Bubs wrote in a statement.

"China Q4 gross revenue of $1.4 million was down 96 per cent on prior corresponding period and down 55 per cent on Q3."

The company is suing Willis Trading and Alice Trading, two entities that are associated with AZ Global.

Bubs blames its excess stock, and $5.65 million worth of debt, on AZ Global - which allegedly failed to sell its new "Supreme" range of formula.

Earlier this year, Bubs was also embroiled in a dispute with its founder Kristy Carr and former executive chairman Dennis Lin, who were sacked from the board.

Bubs' share price was down 2.5% to 19.5 cents by 3:30pm AEST.

Shares of hemp manufacturer Ecofibre surged by as much as 106% on Monday morning.

This was after the company said its specialty manufacturing division Hemp Black had signed a memorandum of understanding with US sportswear giant Under Armor - to supply it with specialty yarn.

However, the excitement for the small-cap stock (worth $76 million) has fizzled out dramatically since then.

Its share price is now up 17.7% to 20 cents.

Ecofibre said the initial term of its supply agreement will last three years, and it expects to earn an additional $9 million in revenue at full production.

• ASX 200: -0.1% at 7,397 points
  
• Australian dollar: +0.4% to 66.74 US cents
• Nikkei: +1.3% to 33,185 points
• Hang Seng: +1.6% to 20,224 points
• Shanghai Composite: +0.6% to 3,297 points
• Spot gold: -0.3% at $US1,954/ounce
• Brent crude: -0.6% to $US84.50/barrel
• Iron ore: +0.1% to $US106.80/tonne
• Bitcoin: +0.3% to $US29,46027

The Australian dollar is a little stronger after some disappointing Chinese manufacturing data was released, which reinforced expectations that Beijing will have to pump more stimulus into its economy.

The local currency had risen 0.4% to 66.74 US cents by 1:10pm AEST.

But the Australian share market erased most of its early gains, with the ASX 200 flat at 7,406 points.

China's manufacturing activity shrank for a fourth straight month in July (albeit at a slower pace), according to results of a factory survey published today by the country's National Bureau of Statistics.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) was at 49.3 points this month (a slight improvement over the 49-point reading it scored in June).

Any score below 50-points means the industry is contracting (while a score above 50 mean it's expanding).

The world's second-largest economy grew at a slow pace in the June quarter, as demand remained weak at home and abroad, leading the Politburo - a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party - to describe economic recovery as "tortuous".

Despite that, it was a strong day for Asian stock markets with the Nikkei, Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng rising by 1.5%, 0.6% and 1.5% respectively.

There's a big divide on what the Reserve Bank will do tomorrow — depending on whether you ask an economist, or pay attention to the market's pricing.

The RBA is expected to lift rates once more by 0.25 percentage points on Tuesday, and pause for the rest of the year as inflation is still running well above the target, according to a slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll.

Here's what Reuters is saying:

Although the RBA has raised rates by a total of 400 basis points since May 2022, inflation was still running at 6% in the last quarter (double the upper end of the 2-3% target range).

A record low unemployment rate and a rebound in house prices in Australia - one of the world's most expensive housing markets - suggests the RBA still needs to raise base borrowing costs.

Most global central banks are inching closer to the end of an historic tightening campaign, including the US Federal Reserve, and economists also expect the RBA will be done soon.

Thirty-six economists were surveyed by Reuters, in a poll taken on July 26-28.

Over 55% of those economists forecast the RBA to raise its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35%, the highest in nearly 12 years, at its August 1 meeting.

The remaining 45% expected no change to the cash rate target.

But financial markets were pricing in only a one in five chance of that happening.

Among major local banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac expected a 25 basis points hike tomorrow, while ANZ and NAB predicted a pause.

Origin Energy, which is set to be taken over by a Brookfield-led consortium, said revenue from its share of the Australia Pacific LNG project (APLNG) fell 12.3% in the fourth quarter, hurt by lower prices.

Oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices have fallen from their 2022 peaks as slower-than-expected economic growth in key consumer China and concerns about global economic prospects cloud the outlook for fuel demand.

Australia's second-largest power producer said its share of revenue from APLNG — a joint venture with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec — fell to $611 million for the three months to June 30 (compared with $697 million a year earlier).

Origin, which is nearing the conclusion of its $15.35 billion takeover by a consortium led by Canada's Brookfield, said the average realised price for LNG in the quarter was $US12.24 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBtu).

It's a significant drop from the price it fetched for LNG a year earlier ($US14.24 per mmBtu).

By 12:10pm AEST, Origin Energy's share price was flat at $8.52.

- Reuters / ABC

Kanye West is officially back on Twitter nearly eight months after having his account suspended.

The rapper, who is now legally known as Ye, was kicked off the platform in December 2022 for repeated anti-Semitic posts, including sharing an image of a swastika merged with the Star of David.

Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 and has now rebranded it as X.

Ye won't be eligible to monetise his account on X, and advertisements won't appear next to his posts, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing the social media platform.

For more, here's the ABC's coverage of this story: