1. Telstra has posted a 6.4% drop in first half net profit to $1.14 billion and AMP has reported a 31.8% fall in underlying profit to $464 million as reporting season continues.

2. Other companies reporting today include AGL, ASX, Goodman Group, Magellan Financial Group, NAB, Newcrest Mining, South32, Treasury Wine Estates and Woodside Petroleum.

3. Naval Group, the French company in charge of construction of the $80 billion future submarine program, said that Australian firms may receive less than half of the value of the submarines' contracts. The company's CEO told The Australian, "We didn’t know the Australian market before we joined the program... Now we have a much deeper insight, and we recognise there is a lot more work to be done than we anticipated."

4. The US federal budget deficit grew to $389.2 billion in the first four months of the fiscal year, up 25% from $310 billion during the same period last year according to the US Treasury Department.

5. US stocks have again reached record highs, pushing the Dow Jones 275.08 points or 0.94% higher to 29,551.42. The S&P 500 rose 21.70 points or 0.65% higher to 3,379.45 and the Nasdaq gained 87.02 points or 0.90% to 9,725.96.