Markets Live: China data hits shares 12:57pm: Fund managers are less bullish about shares amid continued concern about the Eurozone debt crisis, a global survey says. But the global search for yield has seen bonds recorded their second-largest net inflow of funds in five years. About 57 per cent of global fund managers, a fall from 75 per cent in the previous quarter, were holding an overweight position in equities in the second quarter of this year, the HSBC survey released today found. While none of the fund managers were underweight in shares, almost half took a neutral stance compared to 25 per cent in the first quarter. "It is a little bit more centred and balanced than previous the last quarter, but still a fair amount of optimism towards equities," HSBC Bank Australia's head of wealth management, Mike Danby, said. On the value stakes, there are still strong fundamentals in play as well. Fund managers were more positive about equities in emerging markets, increasing their overweight positions in the second quarter to 57 per cent from 29 per cent in the previous three months. 12:39pm: The surge in the big four banks" share prices has unleashed a debate over whether the sector has entered bubble territory, as investors chase high-yielding assets, writes BusinessDay's Clancy Yeates. 12:30pm: Ports and rail operator Asciano is slashing about $250 million in spending, it may cut more and is rushing in job cuts in tougher economic conditions. ""If soft economic conditions continue into FY14 management has further flexibility to re-phase capital expenditure to more appropriately align with top line growth,"" the company said in a presentation to the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney. Asciano shares are down 2.7 per cent to $5.23. 12:14pm: Myer's share price has plunged 3.8 per cent a day after chief executive Bernie Brookes caused a storm of criticism on Twitter over comments he made about the disability scheme. At noon, Myer shares were down to 11.5 cents to $2.965. Mr Brookes was forced to apologise yesterday "to those who may have been offended or hurt" by his comments on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but reiterated his concerns that a levy would be bad for business. Mr Brookes told a Macquarie Investment seminar on Wednesday that the estimated average of $350 a year that people will pay for the Medicare levy "would be something they would have spent with us" and "is not good for our customers and may have an impact." Today, Mr Brookes has apologised "to those who may have been offended or hurt" by his comments on the NDIS, but reiterated his concerns that a levy would be bad for business. 12:11pm: APN News and Media chairman Peter Cosgrove says the trans-Tasman media group's Australian regional media business has had a tough first quarter, with revenue down 13 per cent. ""The slowdown in the mining sector, declines in government spending and floods earlier in the year account for more than half the decline,"" Mr Cosgrove told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting. ""APN has had a mixed performance in the first quarter,"" he said. APN shares are down 1.3 per cent to 39 cents. 12:03pm: China's factory-sector growth eased in April as new export orders fell for the first time this year, a private survey showed, suggesting the euro zone recession and sluggish US demand may be reining in China's economic recovery. The final HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 50.4 in April from March's 51.6 and was largely in line with a flash reading last week of 50.5. Fifty divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis. China's official PMI on Wednesday painted a similar picture, falling to 50.6 in April from an 11-month high of 50.9 in March as new export orders fell. "The slower growth of manufacturing activity in April confirmed a fragile growth recovery of the Chinese economy as external demand deteriorated and renewed destocking pressures built up," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC. 11:44am: Building approvals fell 5.5 per cent in March - weaker than economists expected. Economists" forecasts had centred on a 1.5 per cent rise in approvals for March. 11:33am: If you haven't seen it already, US discount supermarket Costco has blitzed the traditional Australian retailers with a price of $649.99 for a bottle of the 'perfect' 2008 Grange, the lowest price for a bricks and mortar chain in Australia. With the eagerly anticipated global release of the latest Penfolds Grange looming, national liquor chain Dan Murphy's set the early running with an offer $669 per bottle, a 15 per cent discount to the recommended retail price of $785 for the iconic wine. Read BusinessDay reporter Eli Greenblat's story here. 11:27am: In US earnings news, Facebook's first quarter profit has climbed 58 per cent off the back of mobile ad revenue. Its mobile advertising business continued to expand in the first three months of the year, but the social network's rising spending restrained profit growth. Mobile ad revenue, which account for 30 per cent of Facebook's ad revenue in the first quarter, was at the higher end of the range analysts expected, said Macquarie Research analyst Ben Schachter. But he said, "it needed to be higher for people to get really excited about trend lines." Here's the full story. 10:52am: One of the other major corporate stories floating around this morning is news that Archer Daniels Midland is a step closer to grabbing control of Graincorp after completing due diligence. The takeover deal will now be subjected to conditions including a minimum of 50.1 per cent acceptance by shareholders, and regulatory approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and China's commerce ministry. GrainCorp, Australia's largest independent grains handler, said in a statement to the ASX this morning that its directors recommended the ADM offer, unless a better proposal was tabled. "Shareholders will be provided with further information, including an independent expert's report, in the bidder's and target's statements, which are expected to be despatched to shareholders in June," GrainCorp said. Graincorp shares are 0.3 per cent higher, or 4 cents, to $12.85. 10:44am: Some executive news: ""His success in media and business speaks for itself,"" Mr Stokes said in a statement. ""His appointment adds further depth to the board of our company as it continues to develop its businesses."" Shares in Seven West Media are down 2.8 per cent on the news to $1.93. 10:36am: Telstra shares are looking at their eighth day of gains. In early trade, shares in teh big telco have added 0.6 per cent after successive rises of 1 per cent on Tuesday and Wednesday. How high can it go? Well, here's one view. Bell Potter's strategist Charlie Aitken has come forward with a $5.80 call on the stock. Telstra will pay 28c a share fully franked dividend in FY13 and 29c fully franked in FY14, he told clients this week. That equates to 5.60 per cent and 5.80 per cent, respectively, while for investors able to utilise those franking credits, this then lifts the grossed up yields to 8.00 per cent and 8.28 per cent. With a continued rotation of funds out of fixed income securities into equities, this should see higher yielding stocks favoured, he said. And if the same flow comes from the bond market to equities, "which I think has started as investors all reassess medium-term growth and inflation expectations, then my price target of $5.80, based off a 5.00 per cent yield, could prove conservative," he told clients. The army of retirees looking for tax-effective dividends doesn't have only Telstra in its sights. Photo: Paul Jones 10:26am: Myer shares have taken a battering in early trade - down 3.57 per cent. This comes after CEO Bernie Brooks himself is taking a battering over comments that a tax to fund the NDIS will hurt Myer sales. Brookes told a Macquarie Investment seminar yesterday that the estimated average of $350 a year that people will pay for the Medicare levy "is something they would have spent with us" and "is not good for our customers and may have an impact." Predictably, social media lit up. Read more on this here. 10:21am: Flight Centre has lifted its earnings guidance for this year to as much as $340 million in pre-tax earnings due in part to a rebound in demand for travel from hoiliday-makers. Shares in Flight Centre surged 2 per cent, or 77 cents, to a record high of $38.94 this morning following the release of the profit upgrade. Australia's largest travel agency has raised its forecast for underlying pre-tax profits to between $325 million and $340 million for the year to June, from its previous guidance of $305 million-$315 million. Last year Flight Centre posted a record pre-tax profit of $290 million. Should it hit the latest targets, Flight Centre's earnings will rise by between 12 and 17 per cent on those achieved in the 2011-12 financial year. 10:16am: The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 24.1 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 5,142.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 22.3 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 5,121.6. On the ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was down 28 points at 5,133, with 6,062 contracts traded. 9:47am: While we're in the US, it's a case of what a difference a year makes for Facebook, which reported rising profits in the first quarter as it challenged Google and Apple for revenue from mobile ads and apps. Mobile advertising helped Facebook boost its first-quarter profit by 58 per cent from a year ago to $US217 million ($A212.08 million) and to lift revenues beyond market forecasts, in results released on Wednesday. Facebook said its monthly active users rose 23 per cent from a year ago to 1.11 billion, including 751 million who accessed the network on mobile devices. ""We've made a lot of progress in the first few months of the year,"" said Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. ""We have seen strong growth and engagement across our community and launched several exciting products."" The Wall Street losses came as markets across Europe and Asia were closed for the May Day holiday. Despite many traders taking a day off, commodities still managed to have a bad day. Gold prices more than 1 per cent lower, the biggest daily drop since bullion's historic decline in mid-April, although the metal pared some losses after the Federal Reserve stuck to its monetary stimulus plan. Spot gold fell 1.3 per cent to $US1457.90 an ounce. Oil prices sank on fresh signs of economic weakness in the United States and China and after a US inventory report showed crude stocks at their highest point in more than 30 years. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery settled at $US91.03 a barrel, down $US2.43 or about 2.6 per cent. European benchmark Brent futures lost $US2.42 to close at $US99.95 a barrel. 9:38am: Wall Street was down sharply overnight after fresh data showed US companies hired the fewest employees in seven months in April while manufacturing growth slowed to a crawl, suggesting the economy has run into a soft patch as budget-cutting in Washington starts to bite. The losses came as the US Federal Reserve said it would keep buying $US85 billion in bonds each month to keep interest rates low and spur growth, but added it could lift or taper this pace of purchases depending on the economy's path. Expressing concern about a drag from Washington's belt-tightening, the Fed described the economy as expanding moderately in a statement that largely mirrored its March decision. Fed officials cited continued improvement in labor market conditions and did not change their description of inflation, saying it should remain at or below the central bank's 2 per cent target. 9:37am: Good morning folks. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Thursday.