BUSINESS

The euro fell to a new six-week low against the dollar Thursday after French, German and Italian leaders agreed not to widen the role of the European Central Bank to support weaker euro-zone state

New Zealanders are planning to cut on their holiday travel plans in the next 12 months. A report by Roy Morgan Research, a market research and public opinion survey firm in Australia, explained the reduction in travel plans to the weaker consumer confidence.

The German IFO survey edged higher in November, with all three indices recording gains. The headline business climate index rose from 106.4 to 106.6, against expectation of 105.2. The second estimate of UK September GDP growth was unchanged at 0.5pct.

By Greg PeelLondon's FTSE was down 0.2% while Germany's DAX fell 0.5% and France's CAC was flat.

Black Friday in the U.S. means a lot of human traffic due to the number of people taking advantage of certain deals in different stores. Stores are definitely interested to find out which stores have more human traffic and which attracts more customers.

Retail store Harvey Norman has finally succumbed to the inevitable and has launched an e-commerce site.

Apple is whetting shoppers' appetites for the company's Black Friday sale with a simple Web page that only announces a "one-day Apple Shopping Event".

For shoppers who don't want to get up at the crack of dawn and battle countless other buyers to look for the best discounts can do so from the comfort of their own homes.

The digital world has slowly invaded practically every single device on earth, even the smallest bit with the audio device. Various kinds of headphones have been released since the invention of the Walkman.

Due to the volatility of foreign exchange currency and sharemarkets since the 2008 global financial crisis, experts are encouraging investors to include precious metals in their portfolio.

One of the DeLoreans from the set of Back to the Future is going up for auction at a Profiles in History event. The car is one of seven that were specially made for the movies, and this is one of three surviving models in existence.

Australians took 7.1 million overseas trips in 2010 and spent an average of $5,000 per trip, newly launched independent finance comparison Web site Mozo said on Thursday.

Murchison Metals (ASX: MMX) has conditionally sold its interests in Crosslands Resources and the Oakajee Port and Rail projects to Mitsubishi Development for A$325 million.

New technologies and players in the video distribution industry are threatening the viability of the pay television sector.

As an early Christmas gift, Google is slashing the price of its web-only Chromebooks to just $299.

U.S. and Canadian retailers have slashed prices for Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet to $199.

Google continues its latest campaign of retiring products and services that the tech giant admitted failed to deliver the desired results, company officials said.

The details of the $100-million pay-off between the Greens and the Labor government in exchange for the former's support of the mining tax are no longer secret.

Qantas's brand was damaged more by the strikes than the shutdown of the fleet by its chief executive, former Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said on Wednesday.

Markets were rattled yesterday by the news that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted sharply this month to a 32-month low.

Property developer Stockland says it's still on track to match 2010-11 earnings per share figures, despite a slow start to the current financial year.

Global and Chinese crude steel production slowed in October to their lowest levels in 10 months, figures from the World Steel Association this week confirmed.

U.S. stocks tumbled Wednesday as surprisingly poor demand at a German government-bond auction and weak Chinese data weighed on investor sentiment.

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comNo one was expecting Germany to be the biggest loser today, especially since the Eurozone crisis has caused investors to flock to the safety of German bunds in recent months causing 10-year bond yields to drop to record lows.

Homeloans expects to fund as much as 25% of new business through its recently launched Accelerate product.

From Stan Shamu, Markets Strategist, IG MarketsGlobal markets extended their losses overnight on deepening concerns about the European debt crisis, after a poorly-received German debt sale. Germany failed to find buyers for 35% of the bonds it offered at an auction. There was also a swathe of disappointing economic data, with European services and manufacturing output shrinking for a third month, US durable goods orders falling and unemployment claims topping forecasts.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 236 points or 2.1% while the S&P lost 2.2% to 1161 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.4%.

TV reality sensation Kim Kardashian has signified interest to purchase property in Dubai after her recent visit to the UAE with mom Kris Jenner. Will it be a good investment for Kim? Ibtimes.com.au tries to scrutinize the property investment scenario for the Kardashians in Dubai.

While the Australian Industry Group (AiG) recognizes the importance of road safety, the group opposes the planned establishment of a Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.