BUSINESS

The Santa Clause rally is rolling on in global equities with sentiment remaining positive as the S&P marches towards its record high yet again. The S&P closed at a record 2077 and is within a couple of points of its December 5 intraday record high of 2079. The bounce in crude oil prices seems to have been a flash in the pan with investors finally realising that comments by OPEC members from the weekend did not imply they will look to correct the current supply situation. In fact, Saudi Arabia se...

Like their Chinese counterparts who snapped up properties in London, New York, Sydney and other global cities when Beijing imposed cooling measures on its red-hot real estate market, uber rich Russians are abandoning ship.

In his Sunday announcement of Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the changes are geared towards making the jobs and families a top priority in the coming year, 2015.

In US economic data, the national activity index rose from a revised reading of +0.31 in October to +0.73 in November. Existing home sales fell by 6.1% to a 4.93 million annual rate in November, down from an expected level of 5.2 million.

Leaked information from Sony hack sheds light on the Sony Xperia Z4’s design and release date.

The positive growth of Apple stock is expected to continue as analysts predict strong iPhone 6 demand to continue despite mixed forecasts on Apple Watch.

WestJet Airlines and its 1,250 pilots have signed on a new collective bargaining contract.

Australian shares improved for the fourth straight day with the ASX 200 Index up 1.9 per cent and finishing near intraday highs. Generally markets are quiet as we approach Christmas; however a surge in oil and iron ore prices on Friday have helped both energy and mining industries gain strongly.

Blackberry and Boeing are working on a new smartphone that self-destructs when tampered with.

The ASX 200 has started a holiday shortened week in the same fashion it ended the previous week; with solid gains. At lunch on the east coast the index was close to the best levels of the day. Local stocks pressed ahead on the back of gains for US stocks at weeks end, which capped off an encouraging week on Wall St. After being up 96 points, the Dow Jones finished higher by almost 27 points or 0.2%. The S&P 500 index rose by 0.5% while the Nasdaq lifted by 17 points or 0.4%. For the week, the Do...

The drop in the oil prices have led to global market concerns, primarily by the oil producing countries.

The Australian Dollar had a quiet day of trading on Friday and has opened in the mid .8100's this morning.

Markets ended last week on a positive note with the post-FOMC meeting bid tone continuing to resonate through the globe. The rebound in oil prices also helped underpin sentiment to an extent. While equities drifted higher, there were some notable moves in the fx space with the greenback gaining significant ground against the euro and yen. EUR/USD plunged to $1.222, breaking below its early December lows and now trading at its lowest sinceJuly 2012. The main event for Europe this week will be Gre...

In US economic data, the Kansas City Federal Reserve manufacturing index was steady at +9 in December with the composite index up from +7 to +8.

Australian shares completed a trifecta of winning days on Friday, closing around the best levels of the session. Over the course of the last week the ASX 200 has risen by almost 2.3 % , balancing the loss of the pre-ceeding week when the market fell by almost 2.2%.

The fatal Ebola virus that has killed some 6,915 could be cured by at least 53 existing drugs, researchers said.

Canada Bread buys Saputo's bakery division for C$120 million ($103.38 million).

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured Russians that the country's economy would eventually recover, he admitted on Thursday in a news conference that he has no solution yet for the worsening crisis following the drastic decline of the rouble.

Australian shares are improving for the third day after six straight sessions of weakness. The ASX 200 Index is up 1.3 per cent with the underperforming energy industry this morning's best performer.

New Zealand's economy is growing faster than expected with the Kiwi moving closer to parity with the Australian currency.

You're not one to fall for these online scams.

Australia may soon be entering a difficult phase in the economy as experts point to signs of investors losing confidence.

The Australian Dollar has made back some of yesterday's post FOMC losses, currently trading around 0.8160.

The momentum from yesterday's Fed announcement has continued to resonate through global markets, with equities in Europe and the US extending gains.

In US economic data, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index rose by 0.6% in November after a similar lift in October. The index is up 6.1% on a year ago. The Philadelphia Fed Index fell from the outsized 40.8 gain in November to 24.5 in December. US jobless claims fell from 295,000 to 289,000 in the past week.

Air Canada needed to divert a flight from London to Toronto because of an unruly female South African passenger.

An elderly couple from New Zealand said they almost died after being trapped inside their new keyless car.

It's not really a very high-tech product, but the selfie stick is tipped to become the top-selling Christmas gift of 2014 in Australia, retail experts said, beating other electronic gadgets such as fitness wristbands, cameras and game consoles.

The local sharemarket has finished firmly in the black, following a strong lead from European and US markets. The S&P 500 enjoyed its best one day gain in a year, after the US Federal Reserve signalled it was on track to raise interest rates next year - reinforcing the strength of the US economy. That positive lead helped the All Ords finish up 1 percent to 5,189.