BUSINESS

Oops, but aren't the US, Chinese and Japanese economies, the world's three biggest, suddenly in synch again, on the dow...

Construction giant Leighton Holdings yesterday reported a 39% rise in annual profit and higher dividend, as it attempted...

Steel producer Bluescope Steel returned to the black in the 2010 year, earning a net profit of $126 million.The company...

Bid off, deal done, Sigma Pharmaceuticals survives to live another day.That's the bottom line from yesterday's news tha...

Virgin Blue is abandoning New Zealand after millions of dollars of losses in the three years of flying domestically ac...

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) said it is reviewing the finances of Korea Exchange Bank, the lender put up for sale by Lone Star funds.

PepsiCo stands to benefit from "significant" investment in functional and healthy products, amid tightening restrictions on the marketing of 'junk foods' to children, the head of health policy at the company said yesterday.Derek Yach, senior vice president of global health policy for PepsiCo, said t...

Facebook, the social networking Web site, has reportedly purchased startup Chai Labs for around $10 million.

The Australian market closes down 21 points

In line with its pursuit of further growth and expansions, telecom company iiNet Ltd (ASX: IIN) announced on Monday that it gained a 2010 full year net profit of 35 percent to $34.55 million, coming from the $25.63 million garnered in the previous corresponding year.

Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) declared it has found more gas offshore Western Australia. The latest gas discovery could put Pluto's fast expansion plans back on track.

Investor confidence in Australian shares has increased by 4.9 per cent in March despite the ongoing federal election campaign and mounting international concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth, according to data released today.

The global economic crisis has spawned a ‘lost generation’ of unemployed youth, which according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) would be hard up to recover following the two years of worldwide recession.

Global diversified engineering services and project management group Ausenco Ltd (ASX: AAX) announced today it has won the contract for the US$100 million processing plant upgrade of Kingsgate Consolidated Limited's Chatree North Gold Project in Thailand.

Gold and copper producer Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) said second-half profit increased more than threefold to the highest level since 2003 thanks to higher prices and production.

Giant construction firm Theiss announced on Monday that it is all set to commence initial design and construction activities on the eastern section of New South Wales’ $825 million Hunter Expressway Project.

Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management, which is part of investment firm Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG), has launched a new crop fund focusing on grain and oilseed production in Brazil and Australia.

The Australian share market was down in intra-day trading by midday, but bounced off its lows of the session, buoyed by earnings results.

The local market opened lower today following a weak lead from overseas on the weekend.

Chinese apparent oil demand weakened in July and may decline further in coming months but analysts still see further price gains as the uptrend in global oil consumption remains intact.

Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: VBA) waited three long years, anticipating for the clear sky that never came, and following losses of millions of dollars, the airline company finally gave up on New Zealand as it announced on Monday that it would halt its flights within the country.

The Australian share market has started the trading week in the red, as losses from the banks and miners weigh on overall sentiment. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 25.4pts or 0.6pct to 4455.5 at lunchtime in the East.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SIP) has agreed to hand its pharmaceuticals division to South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd for $900 million.

Riding on the heels of soaring demands and prices for its product, steelmaker BlueScope Ltd (ASX: BSL) revealed on Monday that it has achieved a full-year profit of $126 million following its loss of $66 million from the previous corresponding period.

Australia's construction giant Leighton Holdings (ASX:LEI) has announced a 39 per cent increase in annual profit and foresees further expansion as the economic environment improves.

The Australian Dollar has opened weaker this morning trading around the 0.8950 level after a fairly quiet US session on Friday night in which US data releases were not that bad in relation to consensus.

US retail sales rose by 0.4pct in July, following a revised 0.3pct drop in June. The July result was marginally below forecasts for a gain of 0.5pct. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales rose fell by 0.1pct. US consumer sentiment rose from the final June reading of 67.8 to 69.6 in July.

U.S. stocks fell slightly Friday, with Intel, DuPont and Home Depot among the decliners in the final session of the market's worst week since early July.

The Australian Dollar opens a shade lower on Monday at 0.8928 as risk aversion keeps a lid on high-yielding currencies.