BUSINESS

In US economic data the leading index rose by 0.3% in June, short of the 0.5% forecast gain. The consumer sentiment index eased from 82.5 to 81.3 in July, short of the 83.0 forecast result.

The two houses of Australia's Parliament have passed on Friday legislation that would ease foreign ownership restrictions on flag carrier Qantas. However, the airline would still remain 51 per cent or majority owned by Australia.

After a trying and emotional night in the US on the back of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and escalated international tensions in the Middle East, Malaysia Airlines is currently down 11% as investors come to grips with the news. Malaysia Airlines is majority owned by the Malaysian government holding company Khazanah Nasional Bhd. who told the market in the early session that MH17 B777-200 had a ´clean maintenance record´. Concerns about the ramifications of the incident sent the VIX...

Could the disaster that fell upon Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 trigger a major global war after dozens of innocent lives, who definitely had nothing to do with the tensions ongoing between Ukraine and Russia, were lost?

Even before Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared mysteriously on March 8, 2014, the embattled air carrier was already struggling financially. The incident worsened the airline's financial standing as passengers, scared by what happened, cancelled bookings, while the company had to shoulder a lot of extra expenses related to the search and tending to the needs of the relatives of the 239 people aboard the ill-fated plane.

Despite being sold off this morning for the first time since Wednesday last week, local shares have crept into positive territory. The crash of yet another Malaysian passenger plane has kept global markets on edge, pushing the price of gold and oil higher, while the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up by 0.1 per cent.

Line App - a leading messaging app filed for an Initial Public Offering two weeks ago in Tokyo Stock Exchange and valued at $9.85 billion.

A list of what could be the first batch of identities of people who perished aboard the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 had started to emerge.

The terrorist act that led to the downing and crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 has been attributed to a group of Russian separatists, based on a recording of intercepted communications released by Ukraine.

The horrible news that 295 passengers on a Malaysian Airlines flight have been killed over the Ukrainian/Russian border is a sharp reminder that current geopolitical tensions in that region are at knife point and this will be a flash point to tip it over.

The Philadelphia Fed´s manufacturing index rose from +17.8 to +23.9 in July, well ahead of forecasts (+16.0). The index has been particularly strong in the past four months. Across the subindices new orders, shipments, employment all recorded healthy gains. US jobless claims fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 last week.

The Sydney Federal Court approved on Thursday the $2.2 billion sale of Australian department store David Jones to Woolworths Holdings of South Africa. The go signal came after shareholders of the second-largest department store in the country approved the sale on Monday.

A computer glitch hit Australian grocery giant Woolworths on Thursday afternoon, causing scanners to charge as free items with price tags below $10.

Disaster struck again Malaysia Airlines. Four months after Flight MH370 first went mysteriously missing on March 8, another Malaysia Airlines plane, flight MH17, went into peril. Global reports surmise the airliner was a victim of tensions between Ukraine and Russia, purposely shot down and killing all 295 onboard.

Typhoon Rammasun, now on its way to strike southern China and northern Vietnam, forced over 400,000 people in the Philippines to evacuate and seek higher and safer grounds on Tuesday till Wednesday.

A nice start for the Australian market, at the open of trade the ASX 200 hit a 6 year high of 5559.4 points the highest level since June the 10th 2008. Today the early volumes on the market were also solid and by lunch time the All Ordinaries Index was at 5,528.9 points.

Cleveland Clinic has secured the number one position in hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery for the twentieth time in a row.

According to a report by CNN, Disney theme park employees were arrested for alleged kiddie-sex crimes.

US markets have provided some backbone for the Asian session today, with our opening call currently at 5531 (+0.2%).

The US Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, has expressed optimism on the economy: ´´I am optimistic about the economy and that´s reflected in the forecasts that are included in the monetary policy report.´´ Further, she noted: ´´...I do think the economy is recovering and that growth is picking up and that we have sufficient growth to support continued improvement in the labour market.´´

Sydney business leaders sought freer trader to boost growth in trade and capital and to create jobs. However, they stayed away from the issue of profit-sharing and climate change, which are considered vital issues by many G20 nations.

The Aussie market came under pressure within 30 minutes of the start of trade today, then thanks to a late surge, local shares higher for the second time this week. The All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.16% or 8.8pts higher; closing above 5,500 points for first time in a week.

The Australian market struggled to hold on to early gains as the banks and mining stocks came under heavy selling. The All Ordinaries Index added 12points at the start of trade then by lunchtime the market had fallen into the red. But in the last 20 minutes of trade today the markets regained ground and finished only 1 point weaker. Our market basically pushed aside the gains from the US markets and the excitement from the better than expected result from Citi Group throughout the day.

Eighty workers of ABC will join the ranks of the unemployed under a forced redundancy programmes as the media firm restructures its international broadcasting commitments after the Australia Network was axed.

Finance experts have reiterated time and again that relying on savings to fund one's retirement is not advisable because inflation eats up the actual value of a person's retirement nest.

After a solid night on European and US markets, the Australian market opened higher this morning. But not by as much as the SPI futures index had expected. The All Ordinaries Index added 12points at the start of trade rose to an 20 point gain but by lunch the market fell away and was down 11pts

Gold bugs have been pointing to a recovery since shrugging off a strong triangle-like pattern breakdown in May.

European shares rose on Monday. Shares in Citigroup rose after releasing solid earnings figures. And fears about the health of the Portuguese banking system continued to ease. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.8% with the German Dax higher by 1.2% while the UK FTSE gained 0.8%. Australia´s major miners were higher in London trade with shares in BHP Billiton up by 1.6% while Rio Tinto lifted by 1.2%.

Porn producers are complaining that companies are keeping away from them, noting the change in tolerance for the X-rated industry especially after several HIV scares as some actors tested positive for the disease.