BUSINESS

Brisbane City Council has received a proposal to build a 32-storey hotel in the central business district addressing the city's lack of quality hotel rooms compared to Sydney.

In recent risk-off trade the Australian Dollar has been one of the hardest hit, giving up some vital ground in the past 24 hours.

U.S. stocks recovered about half of their Monday losses in late-afternoon trade, bringing the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 11,000, with financials faring the best

The Chicago Midwest manufacturing index rose from 80.3 to 80.9 in October.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd appears all set to achieve another record earnings in 2010, paving the way for some billion-dollar share buyback initiatives by next year but the company declared that first on its list are planned spending for numerous projects over the next 18 months.

The Australian share market reversed its early losses to close higher, buoyed by healthcare, energy and bank stocks.

Australian stocks managed to reverse a weak start and close in positive territory for the first trading day of the week

The capital of Queensland is a buyer's market and will continue to remain so in the next two years predicted a property analyst.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has warned against top banks including real estate advice as part of their services

Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS), the country's largest wholesale and distribution company, says it welcomes the Australian competition watchdog's court action aimed at preventing it from acquiring Franklins.

New home sales continue to point to a renewed decline in residential construction despite a slight improvement in October, according to a survey of Australia's major residential builders released today by the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

The Australian economy appears to be growing in a much less upbeat mode than many economists had thought as the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that corporate earnings actually retreated in the September quarter.

Local stocks have started the trading week in the red, as investors look backwards to falls experienced on Friday night in the US and Europe.

Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX: LEI), Australia's largest project development and contracting group has concluded discussions with Spanish builder Actividades de Construcción y Servicios SA (ACS) in relation to a governance framework to protect the interests of the Company's minority shareholders should ACS acquire control of Leighton's major shareholder, Hochtief AG.

Water prices in Australia have gone up, but the nation is consuming less according to the 4th Edition of the Water Account Australia, released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The slowing real estate market in some of Australia's most popular cities is a perfect time for buyers to keep their eye out for the best deals.

Data from property web site showed Launceston as the most popular suburb in the Australian island and state of Tasmania.

Sydney's cooling real estate market is forcing sellers to lower expectations leading to price fluctuations in real estate value and buyers opting to looking auctions to guarantee bank valuation approval.

Diploma Group Limited has acquired the site for its new residential project to be located in Perth's business district at Adelaide Terrace.

National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) says it has identified and fixed the problem which caused the payment and transaction processing delays it has experienced in recent days.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) is supporting bank reform moves saying that the market concentration trend is affecting small businesses and home buyers.

The Australian Dollar has recovered from the short term wobbles on Friday evening when it fell to just above of 0.9600 on thin post-Thanksgiving US trading and concerns on the financial situation in Ireland.

Australia was confronted with an unusually dovish Glenn Stevens on Friday, as the RBA's Governor testified before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics.

U.S. stocks fell, spending Black Friday in the red as growing worries over the euro zone debt crisis overshadowed an encouraging start to the holiday shopping season.

European Union finance ministers have approved an 85 billion euro bailout for Ireland. Portugal approved its austerity 2011 budget on Friday causing the Portuguese/German 10-year bond spread to ease.

To further bolster Qantas Airways Ltd’s re-invigorated safety measures despite its A380 fleet’s engine woes, chief executive Alan Joyce is boarding QF31’s Sydney flight on its way to London, the first time the aircraft would fly again following the fleet’s grounding more than three weeks ago.

The Australian share market closed marginally higher on thin trading volumes in the absence of a lead from Wall Street due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) finally decides to commence legal proceedings against the owners of Storm Financial and three major banks that facilitated loans on investors, who saw their investments melted away when the investment firm collapsed.

A number of banks have confirmed National Australia Bank's (ASX: NAB) unresolved technical glitch that occurred Wednesday had affected their transactions.