BUSINESS

Canadian Governor General David Johnston on Thursday announced the country will be having royal visitors in May. The Prince of Wales, Charles, and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, will be visiting Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) four months from now.

The Australian sharemarket was up for the third consecutive trading session on the open; however the gains were short lived. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now slipping by 0.2 per cent at lunch, with the miners the main supportive mechanism for stocks after 2.5 hours of trade. Weakness across almost all major sharemarkets last night and disappointing profit results from major U.S. financial institutions are contributing to the losses.

The AUD remains as one of the more interesting G10 currencies around, as it has again weakened against all 16 major trading pairs on what was one of the most disappointing employment change data releases in years.

In US economic news, the NAHB housing market index dipped from 57 to 56 points in January, suggesting home builder confidence had faded a bit at the start of 2014, although most developers expected the housing recovery to continue. US jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 326,000 in the past week. US consumer prices posted the largest gain in six months, rising by 0.3% in December to be up 1.5% over the year. Core prices rose by a much more sedate 0.1%. The Chicago PMI was revised higher from 57.9 to ...

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) apparently has made the right decision in placing Sam Walsh at the helm of the company. A year after being appointed CEO, Mr Walsh has broken company records when he reported on Friday that the miner had produced 266 million tonnes of iron ore.

Passengers of Air New Zealand would soon have more destinations to fly to using the carrier. Reports said Air New Zealand would soon announce the major expansion of its routes and fleet on the heels of the airline inking a deal this week with Singapore Airlines, its erstwhile rival.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warned on Thursday big power users in South Australia and Victoria of the possibility of massive blackouts due to the high demand for electricity caused by the heat wave.

The heatwave took its toll on 4,179 sheep that died aboard the vessel Bader III on the way to Qatar from Perth. The Herald reported on Thursday the incident which actually happened in August 2013 aboard the exporter Livestock Shipping Service's (LSS) Bader III vessel.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook is optimistic of iPhones doing well in China as China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, starts selling iOS devices Jan. 17. In a brief interview with the Wall Street Journal and other publications, Cook hinted at Apple's future plans in China and said it is only the "beginning."

The Australian share market had its best performance for 2014 today, adding to yesterday's gains and more than making up for the losses on Tuesday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 63.9 points or 1.2 per cent to finish at 5319.4 points.

Pope Francis has decided to auction his 1,585cc Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glid for charity. The rocker bike was donated to the supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church in June 2013.

A Chinese company attempts to revive the Titanic with a theme park to be constructed at the Sichuan province.

Disregarding strong public opposition and reneging on its own word, Japan on Wednesday has given Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), embattled operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, the go signal to revive its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear facility.

Google Inc. has been found not playing fair and square in Canada. The country's federal privacy watchdog said the Internet services provider violated Canadian privacy law through targeted online health advertising ads.

The Australian share market is performing well in early trade on the back of gains in European markets and on Wall Street overnight, and in spite of disappointing local jobs numbers which have sent the Australian dollar to a three year low.

Both Europe and the US reacted positively to the news that the World Bank is raising its global growth forecast for 2014 by 20 basis points to 3.2%. The reaction from the developed world was further driven by where the growth is coming from, with developed nations component upped to 2.2% from 2%. The slight disappointment was that developing nations had their outlook cut slightly to 5.2%.

In US economic news, US producer prices lifted by 0.4% in December to be up just 1.2% over the year. Core producer prices lifted by a more sedate 0.3% in the month. The New York Fed Empire manufacturing survey lifted from 2.2 to a surprising 12.5 in January. The Fed´s latest Beige book, suggest economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors through late 2013. Nine out of the 12 districts indicated the local economy was expanding at a moderate pace.

After three straight sessions of losses, the Australian sharemarket has managed to improve by 0.7 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up by 0.14 per cent at its worst and 0.83 per cent higher at its best before settling 0.68 per cent firmer by the close.

Local stocks are managing to partly make up for yesterday's 1.5 per cent slump; the single worst day for Australian equities in four months. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is back above the 5250.0 market, following hitting four week low on Tuesday; now improving by 0.7 per cent.

Good news to those seeking jobs in the Canadian airline industry. Air Canada Rouge is on the lookout for additional flight attendants in 2014 to service its growing fleet as it expands its service to include Calgary and Vancouver this spring.

Apple Inc has announced its back to school deals in New Zealand and Australia with free gift cards for education customers who will be buying a new iPhone, iPad or a new Mac. The free gift cards can be used in Apple's digital content stores like the App Store, iBookstore, iTunes Store and the Mac App Store.

They were the very first who responded to the call for help when the Fukushima nuclear power plant got hit by a massive tsunami on March 2011. But never did the sailors aboard USS Ronald Reagan thought that they too would become victims of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Apple Inc's iPhones may be behind Google's Android in terms of mobile phone market share, but an Actix report has shown that the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are the most used phones in Europe and North America in 2013.

The negative sentiment that has dogged markets finally came to a halt in US trade after December retail sales data came in better than expected. Earnings also got off to a fairly good start with gains for JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. This raised expectations heading into the Bank of America earnings, which carry significant weight given the bank's large retail offering and mortgage exposure. With tapering likely to roll on, investors really want to see data suggesting the US economy is in a muc...

In US economic news, US retail sales rose by a modest 0.2% in December, marginally stronger than the 0.1% forecast. More importantly core sales (excluding autos, gasoline and building materials) rose by a healthy 0.7% in December. Clothing sales lifted by 1.8%, supported by the colder weather, while gasoline sales rose by 1.6% and auto sales fell by 1.8%.

Young men in Alberta lost their interest in studying when the province's oil sands sectors offered them jobs whose average hourly wage increase of 21 per cent was significantly higher than the 4 per cent salary hike granted to workers in other Canadian provinces.

David Jones on Queen Street would have a new tenant in February with the opening of American menswear retailer Brooks Brothers of a boutique store in Brisbane.

The Australian sharemarket recorded its biggest daily fall in four months, with the All Ordinaries slumping by 1.5 per cent and ending very close to a four week low. Local shares are down 2.5 per cent since the start of January; making it the worst start to a new year since 2010. Today's weakness was largely expected though, with the DOW index slumping by 1.1 per cent overnight. The falls were partly due to comments by a U.S. central bank official who said the Federal Reserve will continue to...

Sellers have been mobilised from the outset in today's session and have encountered little resistance from buyers along the way in early trade. The fall on Wall Street overnight has been too difficult to look through for local investors. The US Fed will be undeterred in relation to tapering despite the weak reading for US jobs growth according to comments made by the President of the Atlanta Fed overnight.