As I leave you, the US S&P 500 futures are mildly lower in very early morning trade.
However, mainland Chinese markets are having a great afternoon, with Shanghai up more than 2% and Shenzhen up 3.7%.
Locally, the jobs data will be the big financial/economic news, out at 11:30am AEST.
Until then, try and unwind.
Prices current around 5:00pm AEST.
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
After yesterday's big sell-down today the ASX, like most markets, took a breather.
Investors seem to be weighing up which way to go, now that rate cuts bets for 2024 have been pared back substantially and while they wait for Israel to decide its next move in the conflict with Iran.
The ASX 200 index finished down just 0.1% to 7,606 points, while the All Ords was almost dead flat at 7,861.
Mining was the biggest drag, down about a third of a per cent, while healthcare and energy also went backwards.
Real estate and financials were only just in the red.
Utilities had a big bounce-back after heavy losses yesterday (up 2.9%) led by AGL's 6.4% surge, with tech, consumer cyclicals and industrials also higher.
Hi Glenn,
You're a day ahead — the ABS releases the March Labour Force survey data tomorrow.
The consensus forecast is for a 10,000-strong increase in employment, much lower than last month's surprise 116,500 jobs surge.
That is expected to see the unemployment rate rise to 3.9%, from 3.7% currently.
However, there's a wide range of forecasts, with Westpac expecting 40,000 jobs to be lost as statistical payback for last month's number, and unemployment to hit 4% again.
We'll have you covered tomorrow, with Gareth Hutchens already beavering away on background for the jobs story, myself jumping onto the blog and David Chau doing a story for The Business and 7pm News if TV is your cup of tea.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor spoke on radio FiveAA Breakfast in Adelaide this morning.
One area of focus was the February international arrivals data published by the ABS, which showed 16,400 "permanent arrivals" and 123,190 overseas "long-term arrivals", who are people intending to stay in Australia for at least a year.
In the same month, more than 26,000 long-term overseas visitors departed Australia.
The ABS also has figures on international student arrivals, of which there were 175,950 in February 2024, an increase of 33,370 students compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
However, the number of student arrivals in February 2024 was 4.3% lower than the pre-COVID levels in February 2019.
The ABS also pointed out that the arrivals data is different from migration data, which is published less frequently.
Angus Taylor argued that the level of net migration — people coming into Australia minus those leaving — is too high for the supply of housing to keep up with.
"We believe that a sensible level of immigration and particularly skilled immigration is hugely important for the country, but it's out of whack," he said.
"You know, they've lost control — 100,000 in a month, record level in February as you rightly just said, and here's the problem, since Labor's been in power, we've got over a million new adults in the Australian population. And yet 250,000 houses.
"That's about half the houses you need for that growth in population. It's just out of sync.
"Labor don't seem to get it, they don't seem to be able to get it back under control. And we're paying a high price for that."
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to jet off this week to join his overseas counterparts for a string of high-profile pow wows in Washington DC.
There's a G20 finance ministers' and central bank governors' meeting, plus the IMF-World Bank Spring meetings.
"While global inflation remains a key concern, the balance of risks is shifting from inflation to growth – and the concerns about the outlook for the Chinese economy and increased tensions in the Middle East are adding to uncertainty," Chalmers says in a media statement.
"These evolving global conditions make it an important time to engage with my counterparts and international institutions as we put the final touches on the May Budget."
The budget is on Tuesday May 14 and, of course, the ABC will have its usual comprehensive coverage on TV, radio and online.
The Business will have a special 30 minute program airing on ABC News Channel at 9:30pm AEST on budget night.
The Treasurer is offering very broad hints at this stage about what we can expect.
"The budget I hand down a month from now will be all about easing cost-of-living pressures without adding to inflation, gearing our economy for future growth and continuing our responsible approach to economic and fiscal management," he says.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is up in Gladstone, on the central Queensland coast, announcing $400 million in government loans for a high-purity alumina processing facility being developed by Alpha HPA.
Kirsten Aiken will be speaking to Alpha HPA CEO Rimas Kairaitis on The Business tonight, at 8:45pm on ABC News Channel and anytime on iView.
The government is also pouring $185 million in loan funding to fast track the Renascor Resources Siviour graphite project in South Australia.
The two companies in question have had good days on the share market off the back of the news — Alpha HPA was up 7.8% to $1.10 by 2:30pm AEST, while Renascor was up nearly 30% to 10.75 cents.
The loans come from the Criticial Minerals Facility, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia.
Political reporter Nicole Hegarty has more details.
No problem. I don't disagree with you either.
Rio Tinto released its first quarter production results to the ASX this morning.
It showed the miner has recorded a 5% decline in Pilbara iron ore shipments, compared to this time last year, due primarily to weather disruptions at ports and reduced production at its mines.
In the Pilbara, Rio produced 77.9 million tonnes in the first quarter, 2% lower than in the corresponding period last year. Planned ore depletion, predominantly at Yandicoogina, was partially offset by productivity gains across other operations.
"We delivered stable operating results in the first quarter, including improvements at our bauxite and aluminium businesses, as we navigated seasonal challenges across our global operations," said Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm.
"Our full year guidance is unchanged across all our products," he said.