BUSINESS

The Overnight Report: Stalemate

Neither the buyers or the sellers can gain the upper hand in this market as a rollercoaster ride ends with the Dow down 30.

iiNet acquiring retail division of AAPT from Telecom NZ

Internet service provider iiNet is set to acquire a division of AAPT from Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd and according to a report by The Australian on Friday, about $60 million would change hands, with Telecom NZ also gearing to sell down 17.4 percent of its iiNet holdings to institutional investors.

Aussie shares set to drop

The Australian share market is likely to start weaker this morning after a fall on Wall Street overnight, although resource and energy stocks may gain after the price of metals and oil increased.
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Going Getting Tougher For Austar

Increased competition is making attracting subscribers more difficult for Pay-TV group Austar, so brokers are trimming expectations for the stock.

Experts warn - retail may take years to recover

Experts have warned that retail may take years to recover with continual sales over the past year having trained consumers to expect and only accept reduced prices.The warnings come as research group TNS' Discount Retailing Study found that 65% of Australians perceive retailers to constantly have sa...

Greens call for national rural land and water register

Speaking in Orange today Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown called for a national register of foreign purchases of land or water in rural Australia."In the coming century food and fibre production will be a huge issue as the world population soars to 10 billion people or more," said Senator Brown."I...

Realview confirms 30,000 published editions can be viewed in iPad

Australian digital publishing services provider Realview today confirmed that more than 30,000 editions from over 2,000 publications it produces for clients can now be interactively viewed on the Apple iPad, without having to download anything from the App Store.

RBC Capital: One more rate hike for NZ then halt

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Allan Bollard is likely to raise interest rates in September and then take a respite to allow the economy to grow further amid a fragile global recovery, RBC Capital Markets today said in a forecast.

Xstrata, Peabody eye Aston Resources as takeover target

Junior coal miner Aston Resources Ltd has been reportedly identified by mining giants Xstrata and Peabody Energy Corporation for a possible buyout deal as sources privy to the company’s moves revealed that an initial public offering would be announced next week to raise an estimated $400 million.

Australian Stock Market Report - Closing

The Australian share market broke a four day winning streak today, despite an afternoon buying frenzy which briefly the main indices in the black. A weak lead from Wall Street saw local investors pull back, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closing down 5.9pts or 0.1pct to 4536.2.

TNT opens new depot in East Arm

Freight company TNT announced in a statement today it had launched a new $6 million depot in East Arm, signalling its expanding international business and ongoing commitment to the Darwin region.

NAB survey says Aussies expect snags on property price gains

Many Australians are bracing for a property slowdown over the next 12 months following the accelerated price expansion seen last year as the latest survey by the National Australia Bank (NAB) showed that the annual property price growth plunged from the 5.2 percent posted in March to a mere 1.4 percent in the June quarter.

Shell may join Woodside-rival Chevron

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell is likely to join Chevron's Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project in competition with Woodside Petroleum's Pluto project.

Trucking group bats for dual-runs to improve freight services

A transport group said on Thursday that enabling trucking companies to implement the dual-run system would lead to better profits, slashed costs and less travel time for the freight industry as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) instructed DP World Australia and Patrick to set up a blue print on the trucking scheme.

REX cuts down seat capacity of its Port Lincoln-Adelaide service route

Regional Express Holdings Ltd (REX) (ASX: REX) announced on Thursday that it is set to reduce its seat capacity by 18 percent for the Port Lincoln-Adelaide service route in South Australia, blaming stiffer competition from QantasLink which earlier resumed its flight services on the region.

Micro Cap Rising Stars ? Manaccom

Australia's lottery market is worth $3.6bn a year but only 4% of punters play online. Manaccom is well established to take advantage of inevitable growth.

Union says Telstra lay offs attack customer service

Australian telecommunications and media company Telstra (ASX: TLS, NZX: TLS) is continuing with its plans to lay-off the 900 operational employees announced several weeks ago, according to a statement released today by the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union.

Centro wraps up financial arrangements for US operations

Property specialist Centro Properties Group (CNP) (ASX: CNP) said on Thursday that its financial arrangements covering a total of $US2.7 billion or $A3.03 billion of debt in the company’s US operations have been completed amidst the business’ continued restructuring.

IG Markets - Opening calls

Overnight, US stocks retreated on the back of a disappointing earnings report from Dow component Boeing and the latest Beige Book report which suggested several districts were experiencing softening growth.

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