BUSINESS

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is rolling out today an expansion to features on its Bing search engine that would display personalized results based on what trusted friends recommend on Facebook, the world's most popular social network.

Pyxis Mobile, provider of the only cross-device mobile application development platform designed to meet customers' constantly changing needs, announced today that the company has partnered with Smartsoft International, Inc., to expand its platform's SAP integration and mobilization capabilities.

Unfortunately, at lunch the Australian sharemarket has not yet managed to come back after falling by over 1.3 pct yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 index (XJO) is up a modest 0.1 pct or 4.4 pts to 4654.4.

Australia's Reserve Bank has hinted that higher interest rates maybe inevitable to contain the jump in consumer prices, authorities said.

By Greg PeelI'm not going to say anything, just offer these monetary policy conclusions from past RBA statements and minutes, and from today's May minutes.

Newedge, a global leader in multi-asset brokerage and clearing, today posted the monthly performance data for its suite of Hedge Fund Indices:

Japan's Sony Inc has resumed the partial operations of its leading PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services in the U.S. and Europe after more than three weeks that they were attacked by hackers, the company said in a statement.

Crown land in the Pilbara could be given away for free as long as developers commit to build luxury high-rise apartments.

Face-to-face client interviews do not have to take place in person and can be held online, a law firm has stated.

Work is an important component of adult life. Australians spend on average 64 hours per week doing it. Despite it being such an important and large part of our adult life, people experience a range of problems and impacts related to work, including stress.

AUD had and extremely choppy night with an early rally in Europe on the positivity surrounding the Portugal rescue packageseeing risk currencies bought strongly. This euphoria didn’t last long however and as commodities got sold aggressively the AUD also felt the effects. Today seems dependant on what the RBA has to say in their minutes and looks range-bound prior.

First it was retail sales for March, then the labour force figures for April; now housing finance data for March has come in weak and surprisingly so.

As Finance Ministers and Eurozone policymakers meet to discuss the options available to some of the Eurozone's fiscally troubled states, the common currency is finding support from the earlier release of higher than expected core inflation data.

By Greg PeelThe last two weeks have seen carnage in spot commodity markets, yet uranium's trajectory has been to the upside.

Brokers may not be able to differentiate their service offering from that of the banks enough to justify charging a fee, it has been claimed.

By Lior Cohen, Energy Analyst for Trading NRG3 Reasons Silver Has Underperformed Gold During MayDuring March and April silver has outperformed gold price by a landslide, and yet during May (so far) it seems that the tables have turned and gold price is outperforming silver price.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 47 points or 0.4% while the S&P lost 0.6% to 1329 and the Nasdaq lost 1.

- Greece is now in too deep a hole- Debt restructuring is inevitable- Restructuring will be orderly so as to avoid contagionBy Greg Peel“Greece is in a negative feedback loop in which high restructuring probability implies precarious debt dynamics, while such dynamics imply even higher default...

Hedge funds gained 1.32% in April according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date the Index is up 3.24%.

Oliver Schupp, President of Credit Suisse Index Co., LLC, said, "The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index rose 1.80% in April, with nine out of ten sectors posting positive performance for the month. Managed Futures was the best performing sector for the month, finishing up 5.40%."

Net capital inflow to the US was US$116 billion in March, up from US$95.6 billion in February and US$38.7 billion in January. Chinese holdings of treasuries eased from $1.1541 trillion to US$1.1449 trillion. The National Association of Home Builders index was unchanged at +16 in May.

Traders were content to play the ranges during yesterday’s Asian session once support kicked in around the US105 cent area. The Australian Dollar moved back up towards 1.0560 despite economic data revealing that the number of home loans approved in Australia fell to a 10-year low in March.

The technology and consumer-discretionary sectors led stocks lower Monday as weak economic data spurred worries of a softening economy and Europe's debt crisis kept investor sentiment in check.

Gold, silver, copper, oil and shares all had a mixed end to a mixed week on Friday night, our time.

The Australian Dollar opens lower today at 1.0571 after the greenback strengthened across the board late on Friday night and demand cooled for higher-yielding assets. The Aussie had a steady session on Friday locally ahead of a 1.0715 peak early in the European time zone.

U.S. stocks fell broadly Friday as worries over Greece's finances ramped up ahead of the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 100.17 points, or 0.79%, to 12595.75. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34.57 points, or 1.21%, to 2828.47, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 10.88 points, or 0.81%, to 1337.77, with every sector in the red. U.S. stocks fell broadly Friday as worries over Greece's finances ramped up ahead of the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average droppe...

It was a tough start to the week today with the Australian sharemarket hitting its lowest level in just under 2 months. The ASX 200 index (XJO) fell 1.3 pct or 61.4 pts to 4650 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) slumped 1.3 pct or 63.1 pts to 4724.2.

Macarthur Coal Ltd (ASX:MCC) has lifted its net profit guidance as a consequence of the sale of partial interest in Codrilla for $74.9 million.

As debt concerns flood Europe and the market awaits central bank’s meeting for the month of May, the Australian dollar was more than one US cent lower at noon.