Markets Live: Shares pare back losses 10:53am: Looks like the easy money in bond trading may be coming to an end... Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were hit hard by a sharp fall in bond trading revenues in the fourth quarter, a stinging blow for two banks long seen as stalwarts of fixed income markets. The two banks performed worse in fixed income than rivals JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, showing that even as bond market trading volume suffers from falling prices, some banks will endure more pain than others. Softer markets are only the beginning of the trouble with trading bonds, which include fixed income, currency, and commodities products, at investment banks. Regulators are boosting capital requirements and making many derivatives markets more transparent for investors. Goldman's profit fell 21 per cent, as revenue from fixed income trading dropped 11 per cent after adjusting for an accounting charge, it reported on Thursday. Citigroup, which also reported on Thursday, said fixed income revenue slid 15 per cent to $US2.33 billion in what it called a "challenging trading environment." 10:49am: Brief comment on US quarterly earnings season thus far from Chris Weston at IG Markets: Not the greatest start ever to earnings in US. Expectations have been lowered in the confession period with 88 per cent of the 108 companies who provided guidance, guiding the market lower. So far 9 per cent of companies have reported Q4 earnings, 60 per cent have beaten on EPS, which is below the average for traditional beats/misses of just over 70 per cent. On the sales line 62 per cent have beaten consensus. In terms of growth we've seen a strong 13 per cent aggregate growth, although this should fall as the seasons rolls on, with 4.4 per cent sales growth. 10:38am: Well, here's a thing: strategists at Credit Suisse have made a change to their top stock ideas based on their analysis on the kind of shares self-managed super funds like. "Selfies," as the crew at CS call them, are heavyweights: they own 16 per cent of the Aussie equity market. "Our discussions with SMSF advisors suggest selfies want high dividend yields from large companies they identify with, and which have a history of DPS growth,"the analysts write. That means the banks and Telstra are top of the pops, or "tier 1" names. They don't like speculative names lke "bombed-out" large caps and small miners. As a result of this fairly well-established fact, the CS team have removed Westpac as one of their top short ideas. Strategies to adopt as SMSFs increasingly dominate Australian equities: First, do not short their tier 1 stocks unless expecting a dividend cut. Second, concentrate more on dividend yields and dividend per share growth and less on P/Es & EPS growth. Third, buy what they will buy next. 10:14am: Japanese shares fell, with the Topix index headed for a second weekly decline, as a stronger yen weighed on exporters and U.S. earnings disappointed investors. The Topix lost 0.2 percent to 1,292.48 as of 9am in Tokyo, with all but seven of the 33 industry groups falling. The measure is poised for a 0.5 percent decline this week after slipping 0.3 percent the previous period. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average has fallen 0.4 percent to 15,689.63. The yen gained less than 0.1 per cent to 104.32 per US dollar, after advancing 0.2 percent yesterday. "There's been continuing bad U.S. micro economic news, such as earnings, which is concerning investors about the state of the American economy," said Juichi Wako, a Tokyo-based equity strategist at Nomura Securities Co., Japan's biggest brokerage. Japanese shares will be affected by the S&P 500 falling from a record and the strengthening yen. 9:54am: The Australian dollar has fallen to an eight-year low against its New Zealand counterpart after a soft jobs report yesterday saw the currency shed a cent. The Australian-New Zealand dollar cross rate, which was already trading at five-year lows, eased further to hit levels not seen since late 2005. While investors have remained bearish about the Australian dollar, with the local currency shedding about 15 per cent of its value against the US dollar last year, traders have been more upbeat about New Zealand, with its currency easing less than 1 per cent against the US currency. At the same time, while Australia's trade-weighted index - which measures the dollar against a broad basket of currencies, has fallen to a 3½-year low of 68, New Zealand's TWI has soared to high of 79.20 - a level not seen since April last year. First rugby, now this: the powerful Kiwi dollar 9:49am: The Big Australian, BHP, is one of the best performers in early trading, up 2.6 per cent. Paladin Energy continues its powerful run - the shares are up almost 15 per cent this week. As mentioned, shareholders have dumped Super Retail Group after it reported worse than expected sales. The company blamed, in part, heavy discounting for the result. Retailers generally are having a bad morning, with JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Myer and David Jones all among the worst performers. This morning's best and worst on the ASX 200 9:26am: Shares in Super Retail Group have plunged by almost 20 per cent after the company reported weaker-than-expected sales for the first-half of the 2013-14 financial year. Super Retail Group reported a 6 per cent lift in its group sales, a softer result that the company said was brought about by the slowdown in mining investment and internal administrative problems. The retailer, which own brands such as Rebel, Supercheap Auto and Ray's Outdoors, said its group sales in the 26 weeks to December 28 rose to $1.096 billion. Its share price fell by 19.1 per cent to $10.17 in early trade today. Gross margins for the group's auto and sports divisions were in line with expectations, while the leisure division was weaker for the period on the back of Christmas discounting, the company said. The group said it expected to report a net profit after tax of between $61 million to $62 million for the same corresponding period - an increase of between 0.7 per cent to 2.3 per cent from the previous year. 9:19am: The market has opened slightly lower, with the ASX 200 down 0.2 per cent. There are losses across almost all the sectors, led by a 1.5 per cent slide in consumer discretionary stocks. The big exception are resources names, particularly metal and mining, which is up a strong 2.2 per cent. 9:04am: Has OZ Minerals turned the corner? The stock surged 14 per cent on Wednesday, and added a further 2 per cent the next day. Shareholders who held OZ through last year would have seen their investment halve, so it would be understandable if investors remain wary. But analysts are pretty keen on the stock. Macquarie is the most recent broker to jump on board, raising their recommendation from "underperfom" all the way to "outperform," and their 12-month price target from $3 a share to $4.50. The shares are trading at $3.58. Surely the only way is up for Iluka? 8:47am: The Australian dollar fell further overnight, trading as low as 87.77 US cents, as the fallout from yesterday's poor jobs figures continued. It has since regained some ground to trade at US88.2 cents, around its December lows, and should have a quieter day today. 8:34am: The Business Council of Australia is strongly backing the $3 billion ­privatisation of Australia Post, saying that its ownership is squandering taxpayers" dollars. The debate over the sale flared again on Wednesday when the Commission of Audit - tasked to identify deep ­government savings - revealed it had met Australia Post executives to discuss the future of the business. The commission, which is chaired by Business Council president Tony Shepherd, has refused to rule out a sale of the government business, which is Australia's oldest continually operating organisation. Australia Post's traditional letters business lost $218.4 million last financial year and now delivers 1 billion fewer letters a year than it did five years ago, a fall of 30 per cent from its peak. Over the same period, parcel and pick-up delivery - where it faces fierce competition from the private sector - has grown 24 per cent. Today it's less than 1 per cent.' 8:31am: While the economic data coming out the US suggests an expanding economy, big retailers, from "athleisure" wear company Lululemon Athletica to Family Dollar Stores, have been struggling and cutting profit forecasts this year. Last night was another example of that. Shares in the world's largest consumer electronics chain, Best Buy, plunged 28 per cent - the most in 11 years - after reporting disappointing holiday sales. The company said it was forced into a damaging discounting war with its competitors as customers fled online. Time will tell whether Best Buy is the victim of a structural shift to online retailers, such as Amazon, or whether the consumer - the heart of the US economy - is doing worse than the top level numbers suggest. Read more about Best Buy's results here. 8:28am: Local stocks are poised to open little changed as mixed US corporate results keep investors wary of placing new bets. Here's what you need to know: SPI futures down 4 points AUD at 88.21 US cents, 64.77 euro cents, 92.02 yen, 53.94 pence On Wall St, S&P500 -0.18%, Dow Jones -0.41%, Nasdaq +0.05% In Europe, Eurostoxx -0.6% , FTSE100 -0.07%, CAC -0.3%, DAX -0.17% Spot gold rose 0.3% to $US1242 an ounce Brent oil slipped 19 cents to $US106.08 per barrel Iron ore down 1% to $US128.30 per tonne Read more in this mornings need2know. Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Markets Live blog. Your editors today are Patrick Commins and Max Mason.