BUSINESS

The macro influences remain: China worries; Russian-Ukrainian tensions; sluggish Japanese data; indifferent US data; steel demand in China and the slide into bear markets of industrial commodities.

In US economic data, chain store sales rose by 2.5% in the latest week compared with a year earlier, down from 2.7% in the previous week. Wholesale sales fell by 1.9% in January, the biggest fall in almost five years and well below forecasts centred on a gain of 0.2%. Inventories rose by 0.6%.

There was a whiff of fresh air for embattled Australian flag carrier Qantas on Tuesday when a survey made by booking Web site wotif.com found that the Flying Roo is the favourite of Aussie travelers.

Another wedge seems to have been placed between Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart and her prodigal son John Hancock. Mr Hancock was appointed on Tuesday as non-executive director of Volta Mining, a competitor miner of Hancock Prospecting owned by the mining mogul.

Telstra has inadvertently published the personal data of nearly 16,000 customers compromising the privacy of its customers.

Is it time to replace Tim Cook as Apple Inc CEO? With Apple shares down 5 per cent and now 25 per cent difference from the stock's peak in September 2012, some investors have been worried about Apple Inc's image as an innovative company especially since the demise of its co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs.

The Australian share market closed flat on Tuesday, despite another big fall in the iron ore price. The commodity plunged nine per cent to close below US$105 / dry tonne within the last session. However our mining players managed to brush off the big drop after falling heavily during yesterday's trade. A gain in financial stocks helped the market close steady, with the All Ords down just one point to 5429.3.

Heinz Canada has decided to voluntarily recall some of its baby food products after discovering a defect in its packaging that could spoil the contents of the items.

New Zealand's economy is expected to have significant gains due to big changes in China which will have a big impact to the island nation's future. According to reports, the Chinese government is resolving to rebalance its economy. China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei announced that the country's economic growth target will remain at 7.5 per cent for 2014.Mr Jiwei said hitting the growth target does not matter since the government wants to see more of an increase in jobs growth.

Apple's iPhone recycling program has now been made available in Canadian retail stores. Canadians wanting that latest model can now trade in their old iPhones to get a credit of up to $275 in order to purchase the new model.

Mystery continued to deepen surrounding the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 four days after it disappeared on the air with nary a hint of anything that could pinpoint to where it can possibly be right now. Sherlock Homes-conspiracy theorists have pounced on the incident.

The ASX 200 started with modest gains on Tuesday, notwithstanding the weaker finish seen in US markets overnight. At its best levels in the first hour of trade the index was ahead by 11 points, although that lead faded quickly. Patchy improvements for the financials helped the market hold its ground initially.

New Zealand has joined into the fray of search and rescue operations for the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that went missing on Saturday early morning.

We are currently inundated with influential macro events: China data; Russian-Ukrainian tensions; sluggish Japanese data; indifferent US data; steel demand in China and the slide into bear markets of industrial commodities.

In US economic data, the employment trends index rose from 115.99 to 116.39 in February.

Air Canada is studying the possibility of hiking its plane fares due to the country's weak currency, including charging for initial checked luggage.

The Australian share market started the trading week firmly in the red today, following a sharp fall in the iron ore price which weighed on mining stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed down 46.2 points or 0.8 per cent to 5430.8 after rising 1.1 per cent over the course of last week.

Families of passengers aboard missing ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have been barraging telecom service providers to look into the mobile accounts of their loved ones. They claim to have been calling their phones and that these were ringing.

With the confirmation that Apple Inc’s CarPlay is running on BlackBerry’s QNX platform, which stock changed the game for which?

Apple Ex-CEO John Sculley plans to launch a new smartphone in India. The brand name is not disclosed yet, but its leader is already known - Ajay Sharma, former head of the smartphone division of Micromax and HTC India.

A new study published in the Science journal has advised governments and health authorities as well as travelers wishing to visit Africa, Asia, Central and Southern America to up their proactive measures against the malaria-carrying mosquitoes as cases of the disease will multiply each year due to global warming.

In the court fight between Apple and Samsung, Apple renewed its request for a permanent ban of Samsung products, specifically 23 smartphones and computer tablets. However, Judge Lucy Koh denied the request.

Cases of thyroid cancer among children residing in Fukushima have grown steadily since the disastrous March 2011 incident. Citizens have all but lost hope and confidence in their government. And three years after, no one has been made accountable for the supposed worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl.

Apple was looking to capitalize a permanent ban on Samsung products due to the patent infringements. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, ruled that Apple had not presented enough evidence to show that its patented features were a significant enough driver of consumer demand to warrant an injunction.

Paul Weeks was headed to Mongolia to pursue his "dream job" in what he believed will help him provide comfortably for his family. His wife Danica is praying for a miracle that could still come true. Mr Weeks is one of the 239 passengers now part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that went out of the radar over the weekend and disappeared over the South China Sea.

The Australian sharemarket is having its worst day since early February, partly driven by a fall in China's monthly trade surplus and a weaker iron ore price. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.7 per cent, with the mining sector the the biggest loser. This is only the sixth time in 23 sessions that the local market is losing ground.

We start the week on a downbeat note with a raft of disappointing headlines from the weekend putting Asia on the back foot. While non-farm payrolls surprised significantly to the upside on Friday, disappointing China data, escalating Russia/Ukraine concerns and the missing Malaysian aircraft have all contributed to a sombre mood.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 175,000 in February, ahead of forecasts for a gain of 149,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose slightly from 6.6% to 6.7%. Average earnings grew by 0.4%. The trade deficit expanded from US$38.7 billion to US$39.1 billion in January, just ahead of forecasts.

China is optimistic that by the end of 2014, it would have signed a free trade agreement with Australia. Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said in a press briefing on Friday that the prospects of inking the deal as soon as possible were optimistic.