BUSINESS

Wednesday has seen sellers continue to dictate terms for the ASX 200. The market started the session with a gain of 5 points, although positive territory was a fleeting experience and within the first quarter hour the index was down by 40 points. As lunchtime neared the market showed little evidence of consolidation as it continued to make new lows. The weaker tone locally reflected a similar experience in the US and Europe overnight. European shares fell to a two-week low overnight, led down by...

Japan just launched the Hayabusa 2 on a 6-year return trip aimed to blow a hole in a distant asteroid to find clues on how Earth came about.

A day after unintentionally elevating macadamia nuts as reason for air rage, a chastised Korean Air executive resigned from her post. Cho Hyun-ah quit her job as vice president responsible for cabin service on Tuesday.

The falling oil prices are having a negative impact on not only the oil producing countries but also Australia.

The Australian Dollar has rallied off new lows as the USD and global equity markets weakened overnight.

Global jitters continued to rock sentiment, with Greece at the forefront of the issues. Greek banks were heavily sold off and led declines in European stocks.

In US economic data, wholesale inventories rose by 0.4% in October after an upwardly revised 0.4% gain in September (previously reported as a 0.3% rise). Wholesale sales lifted by 0.2% in October. An ISM industry report on the US manufacturing sector expected revenue to rise by 5.6% in 2015, with capital investment expected to lift by 3.7%.

Australian shares extended their losses this afternoon to finish near today's lows and posting the most significant falls since last Monday. The ASX 200 Index closed 1.7 per cent softer to 5282.7.

Russians are snapping up luxury brand automobiles to guard their personal wealth against the falling ruble.

Australian shares are wiping out all of yesterday's gains with the ASX 200 Index down by 1 per cent. This should come as no surprise following a 4 per cent slump in the oil price, disappointing economic news in China and Japan on Monday, the worst performance for US shares since October overnight and a credit downgrade for Italy.

Both oil producing countries and the oil importing countries keep a close eye on the commodity’s price.

Air New Zealand has helped boosted the earnings of Virgin Australia in trans-Tasman routes. The world's airline of the year is planning to add more Dreamliner jets.

More pressure for the Australian Dollar as China, Australia's largest trade partner, showed a surprise fall in imports, pushing the trade surplus to a record USD 54.47 billion and oil prices continued to slide.

Gains from Friday's jobs numbers were short lived as renewed global growth concerns and declining oil prices came back to haunt global markets. Yesterday's disappointing Japan GDP and China trade balance set off the global growth alarm bells once again.

In US economic data, the employment trends index rose from 122.8 to 123.24 in November.

It includes gifts such as delicious food, classic novels and a variety of fragrances for men and women.

It includes gifts such as a Swatch Watch and a compact makeup palette from Avon.

Canada's poultry products from B.C. has been banned by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, South Africa and Mexico following the recent avian bird flu outbreak in the state.

Australian shares kicked off the trading weak substantially firmer with the ASX 200 Index up 0.7 per cent and ending just shy of 5400pts. Local shares managed to rise by 0.4 per cent last week despite a tough start to the week.

Local stocks have started the second week of December on a strong footing. The ASX 200 opened flat, although buyers were waiting in the wings and the market was well supported over the course of the morning. The upward momentum for the market ebbed when the index hit the 5380 but prices remained well supported around these levels into the afternoon.

Apple Inc (AAPL) stock is expected to surge upward as analysts see higher demand for the company bigger iPhones in the holiday quarter.

The Russian currency, Ruble, has been falling for the past few months and is negatively affecting the country’s economy.

The Australian Dollar has opened this week around the .8300 level as Friday's US jobs report exceeded forecasts and the USD continued its strength.

The US dollar has been broadly bid higher as investors react to Friday's jobs numbers. The November payrolls reading showed 321,000 jobs were created and average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, while the unemployment rate was steady at 5.8%. This was the highest number of jobs created in nearly three years and was also accompanied by upward revisions to the previous two months. Heading into next week's Fed meeting, this jobs report is only fuelling the case for the hawks.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 321,000 in November, well above forecasts of job gains of 230,000 and the strongest increase in jobs in almost three years. The jobless rate was unchanged at 5.8% and hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in the month, above forecasts for a 0.2% gain. The trade deficit narrowed from a revised US$43.6 billion deficit to US$43.4bn deficit in October.

Kazanah Nasional Berhad, the majority state-owned company that operates the embattled Malaysia Airlines announced on Saturday the appointment of Christopher R Mueller as chief executive airline. His designation aims to boost the business of the air carrier that suffered from two major air tragedies in 2014.

Australian medical marijuana company Phytotech will soon be listed in the Australian Securities Exchange on Dec. 22.

A flat start for local shares on Friday has given way to broad selling for the ASX 200. At the best levels of the session the AS 200 was ahead by almost 21 points. However at lunchtime the market was around session lows with a loss of 26 points or 0.5%. The was no clear direction offered by US and European markets overnight.

Falling oil prices will have a major impact on the global economy with some countries benefitting while others struggle.