BUSINESS

The Australian sharemarket is off to its best start of the week with the ASX 200 Index up by 1 per cent. This is ahead of the single most important piece of data; the US non-farm payrolls (a monthly jobs report) out tonight at 12.30am AEDT.

Formula One executives recently held a meeting in Geneva to discuss about the possible return of 1000hp cars in the sport.

Falling oil prices have once again put the focus of global investors on Europe that is facing slow GDP growth.

The US market had its second day in the green yesterday, which saw it recoup over all its losses year-to-date.

In US economic data, new claims for unemployment insurance (jobless claims) fell by 4,000 in the latest week to 294,000. And the number of announced job layoffs (Challenger survey) fell from 35,940 to 32,640 in December.

Gogoro is a new energy infrastructure that could transform city transport in the near future.

Quebec's energy regulator had given its nod to the planned Energy East pipeline project of TransCanada Corp.

The U.S. FDA has approved a new treatment for ovarian cancer from AstraZeneca

Genetics startup 23andMe has tied up with Genentech, a unit of Roche, to find a treatment for Parkinson's, which affects about 1 million people in the United States.

From sex slave to porn star - that is the career path that adult film company Vivid Entertainment is proposing to Virginia Roberts, the 30-year-old American woman who claims to have engaged in a sex orgy with Prince Andrew.

Australian shares finished firmer for the second time this week following 1.2 per cent gains in US markets and a firmer oil price. The ASX 200 Index rose by 0.5 per cent but is still down so far this week.

Australian shares are improving after two days of weakness. The ASX 200 Index is up 0.3 per cent following the first rise in US stocks in six sessions and a firmer oil price.

BlackBerry Limited has announced it now has its own Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

Amid renewed concerns about recession in some countries, there is some positive news coming from the U.S.

Considering the focus of the markets this week, the Fed minutes have provided a welcome distraction to the preoccupation with crude.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates drank on Wednesday water from a machine that converts the faeces into electricity, water and ash. He compared the water to as delicious as that from a bottled one.

In US economic data, the trade deficit improved from a deficit of US$42.25 billion in October to US$39bn in November. The ADP employment survey showed that 241,000 private sector jobs were created in December, above forecasts for a 226,000 gain. And new home loans rose 11.1% in the past week with refinance transactions up 16%.

The local sharemarket finished the session slightly weaker, after a choppy final hour of trade. The All Ords (XAO) regained some early losses to close down 0.2 percent to 5,334, while the ASX 200 (XJO) lost 0.2 percent to 5,353.

The tanker Methane Rita Andrea made commodity history on Monday afternoon when it left Gladstone Harbour's Auckland Point to deliver to Singapore the world's first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) processed from coal seam gas (CSG).

Lynas Corp and other rare earths miners that sprouted after the 2009 exports restrictions China imposed are in for a hard time now that the major producer has lifted the export quotas.

Australian share are sliding for the second day with the ASX 200 Index down 0.6 per cent; adding to Tuesday’s 1.6 per cent slump. The price of oil fell to a fresh 5.5 year low overnight; dropping by 4 per cent. The more than halving in oil prices in just six months continues to put the energy sector under the most selling pressure.

Target Canada will decide the fate of its operations on Feb. 25.

Bungie teases surprises for "Destiny," while a player finds a new glitch that may have provided a glimpse at the upcoming content "House of Wolves."

Many of the economies in Europe may not have fully recovered from the severe recession that hit the globe in 2008.

The US market logged its fifth consecutive day of losses overnight, something it didn't do once in 2014. The last time it logged a five-day losing streak was December 2013.

The first week of 2015 appears to dispel previous forecast that it wouldn't be a spectacular year for Australia's iron ore sector after price of the commodity hit a five-year low of $66.84 on Dec 23, 2014.

In US economic data, the ISM services index eased from 59.3 to 56.2, below the forecast of 58.0. Factory orders fell 0.7% in November, a slightly larger decline than the 0.5% expected fall. And the Redbook survey of weekly chain store sales was up 4.3% in the latest week compared with a year ago, down from the 5.4% annual gain in the previous week.

New games and items featuring the “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire” theme have been made available to fans.

Sports fans could kiss the dream match goodbye after the group of Abu Dhabi investors withdrew on the first week of January their $120 million offer for American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr to fight Filipino champ Manny Pacquiao.