BUSINESS

Amid global focus on the aviation industry as the world waits for fresh developments about the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, the aircraft engineers' union at Qantas warned of a possible aviation disaster waiting plans of the Flying Roo.

Apple Inc is on its way to a 'disastrous' first quarter for Fiscal Year 2014 as analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners delivers the bad news about the company's Q1 performance. According to Mr Blair, Apple may be having a bad first quarter. He warned investors that Apple's stock could crash after the company releases its first quarter earnings.

The New Zealand dollar is expected to have a weekly gain of 0.9 per cent following the interest rate hike of the Reserve Bank. The Kiwi dollar rose to 85.39 U.S. cents as on March 14 as of 5pm in Wellington from a previous close of 84.55 cents. The Kiwi dollar rose to an 11-month high at 86.06 cents before trading at 85.23 cents by 8am on March 14. According to a BusinessDesk survey of 11 analysts, the Kiwi dollar is predicted to trade between 82.75 and 86.35 U.S. cents by the end of the week.

The local market had its second worst day of the year; is trading at a one month low and recorded its worst week in three months. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 1.5 per cent today, taking the losses this week to 2.37 per cent (worst week in three months).

A few days ago, just several days after a minor 7.0.6 iOS update, Apple released a major update for their latest mobile platform – iOS 7.1. The update quickly spread throughout the users of Apple mobile devices in North America, with 12 percent adoption rate in two days, according to a study by Chitika.

King Digital Entertainment the company that created the popular game Candy Crush Saga is going in for an IPO with a valuation of AU $8.5 billion. Will the valuation and share price succeed? Or will we see a repeat of Facebook?

Readers who are looking to get the one year membership of the Amazon Prime have just one week before the prices go up to $99. The price currently is $79 and the increase is set to offset rising costs for the company such as fuel and shipping costs.

Radioactive activity from Fukushima has reached Fraser River Valley in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Although the scientists uncovered very low levels of cesium-134 in the soil, they remain baffled as to how it arrived in the area.

It was no surprise to see local stocks under pressure from the outset on Friday. One of the main talking points in the last day has been the latest round of Chinese economic news, which was released after the close of Australian trade on Thursday afternoon. The Chinese figures had the capacity to be a boon or a bane. The much weaker than expected results have meant the latter. As a result sellers returned to commodity markets, base metals finished mostly lower on demand concerns after China's...

Numbers of suicide cases in Fukushima continued to rise since 2011 triggered by depression and uncertainty over the future.

After having seen an improvement in sentiment yesterday, it seems we are back to square one with renewed China concerns and Ukraine tension ramping up. China data was releases post local trade and this set the tone for overnight trade. Industrial production slowed significantly at just +8.5% which was well below consensus of +9.5%. Retail sales and fixed asset investment data also missed estimates and analysts feel the combined impact of these readings points to a high likelihood of a big GDP dr...

In US economic data, claims for unemployment insurance fell by 9,000 in the latest week to 315,000. Retail sales rose by 0.3% in February with sales excluding autos up by 0.3%. Both figures were slightly above forecasts. The Federal Budget was in deficit by $193.5 billion in February, smaller than the forecast $212 billion deficit. And import prices rose by 0.9% in February with export prices up 0.6% - both ahead of forecasts.

Australian supermarket giant Woolworths plans to add another 7,000 employees in 2014 to its current 180,000 workers by opening 108 more new stores across the country.

The ASX 200 spent most day moving higher, although prices softened in the last 2 hours as investors focussed on Chinese economic figures due for release after the close of local trade. At its best levels of the session the market was up by 41 points; at the lows of the day the index was still in positive territory with a gain of 2 points. Volume was reasonable at around $4.5 billion.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) tops hedge fund stock according to the recent Citigroup analysis based on 13Fs

While the world has still to see Apple's iOS in full swing with CarPlay, Google and Audi are already collaborating for an Android car. The big players in the mobile computing world are looking at the automotive industry now - and planning to set a trend.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised on Thursday the official cash rate (OCR) by 0.25 basis points to 2.275 per cent. It ended the three-year freeze on interest rates imposed by the national government after the Christchurch earthquake.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is rumoured to be the next Disney CEO after Bob Iger leaves the office in 2016.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the first time this week, boosted by much better than expected employment numbers. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up by 0.7 per cent.. Mining stocks are the best improvers following a tough start to the week due to concerns relating to China's economy and credit issues. The results of the monthly employment report locally and a handful of economic information from our largest trading partner, China are the two highlights today. China buys around ...

US equities managed to pare losses despite a lack of fresh catalysts to really drive sentiment either way. There was a continuation of similar themes from earlier in the week, with Ukraine uncertainty keeping investors at bay in Europe, while China concerns saw commodities remain subdued. A 0.2% decline in Europe's industrial production which was expected up 0.6% also weighed on commodities. However, copper managed to arrest its slide from yesterday.

In US economic data, the weekly mortgage market index fell by 2.1%, from 381.4 to 373.3, led by refinancing. The purchase index only fell from 169.6 to 168.8.

Oil giant Chevron, in an update on Wednesday, disclosed that with the completion of the offshore pipelaying at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia, the country's largest gas project, Gorgon, is almost 80 per cent complete.

Like other large air carriers that used to rule the skies, Malaysian Airlines has experienced financial turbulence in the past decade as budget carriers compete with them on price points.

Apple investors may see significant gains in the company's stock in the next 12 months. According to Pacific Crest Securities Analyst Andy Hargreaves, Apple stock could reach $635 with the impending release of iPhone 6 rumored to have a bigger screen than the usual 4-inch iPhone.

The Australian share market was heavily back into the red today, although stocks managed to close off their lows as mining stocks received some positive headwind in afternoon trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed lower by 0.5 per cent with key financial players a big drag.

"That 70's Show" alums Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are inviting people into the world of "cute" celebrity couples. The couple grabbed lunch at a café in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Monday afternoon, Mar. 10, and was spotted by a reporter both looking happy and doing a high-five.

Robocoin, the company behind Bitcoin ATMs, is planning to expand to 10 more locations around the world. The company has announced it will be shipping its Bitcoin ATMs to Boston and Seattle in the United States. More machines are heading to the UK, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Czech Republic, Japan and Singapore.

With so many stories behind the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, many people are now confused between the fact and fiction behind its abrupt disappearance. The mystery of the flight's vanishing act has left the world wondering that even the world's top air safety authorities are still in the dark on the technicalities and its disappearance is simply inexplicable.

Sellers have returned to the share market on Wednesday having stayed their hand somewhat in the previous session. The themes driving sentiment remain largely the same, with the central discussion turning around the mining sector and the near term prospects for the price of iron ore. To that end, prices for the commodity have consolidated at $104.90 / tonne in the last day having suffered an 8% decline in the previous day.