BUSINESS

Markets overnight were moving along in a fairly routine fashion, after having seen slightly positive data from Europe and the US. This lead to Europe recovering from four days of losses and the US market moving slightly in the red after having rallied on Monday.

Microsoft sued Samsung as it demanded a royalty for each smartphone the South Korean company sells.

Transport operators would often downplay accidents involving their vessels, coaches or jets, especially near misses, but in the case of a Singapore Airlines Flight SQ351, it was Singaporean Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew himself who admitted it was only minutes away from suffering the same fate as Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 which was hit by a missile and crashed with all 298 people on board.

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi sold 15 million smartphone in China during the second quarter of 2014, beating the two other technology giants Samsung Electronics and Apple, according to a market research firm Canalys.

Elizabeth Barbalich, director of green beauty brand Antipode has sued her real estate agent demanding compensation, for duping her in a house deal that made her pay excess price to the sellers for a luxury house, reported stuff.co.nz.

About 3,500 mining jobs would be lost, following the going into administration of Australian miner Bluestone Global. The company, listed in the Australian Stock Exchange, said in a statement on Tuesday that it failed to secure shareholder support to fix its balance sheet by merging with other companies.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the third day despite a strong performance from US shares overnight. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell by 0.4 per cent; however is still only 2 per cent away from revisiting the six-year highs reached late last week.

The Australian economy is capable of weathering difficult economic conditions but relying on interest rates alone will not help the country's financial woes. According to Lord Mervyn King, a former Bank of England governor, a slowdown in China's economy will "hurt" Australia's economic growth. However, he believes the possibility of that scenario is "unlikely."

Dobrolyot Airline, the low-cost subsidiary of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, has become the first casualty of the sanctions the European Union slapped against President Vladimir Putin and his country.

Global airlines are now given the leeway to deny passengers it believes are exhibiting symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus.

Liberia has started burning the bodies of the victims of the deadly Ebola virus to avert more potential health scare from the rotting corpses. The death toll now has reached 887 in the three western African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nigeria has reported its second Ebola case.

Despite disappointing results from Boeing and other companies, the U.S. stock market logged record-high earnings due to positive earnings from technology firms.

There was a solid recovery in US markets overnight, however this is not surprising considering the profit taking and reactions to 'good news is bad news' that resulted in falls last week.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba looms to become the fourth largest technology company in the world once it launches its initial public offering in New York in September. It will be behind Apple, Google and Microsoft, wrote Techtimes.

Australia's Future Fund has reached $101 billion on Monday, exceeding the $100 billion mark at the end of June after its investment returns for the 2013-14 financial year yielded $12 billion.

The winning streak continued with shares hitting fresh six-year highs, rising for a third day and remaining above the key 5600pt level. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improved by a modest 0.1 per cent despite mixed performances from global markets overnight. The US economy expanded at a faster than expected 4 per cent annual pace in the June quarter, while comments by the US central bank relating to inflation has increased the market's expectations of an earlier rate rise.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued new restrictions to American airlines, instructing them to fly over Iraqi airspace at altitudes higher than 30,000 feet, even as other global airlines such as British Airways maintained flying over the wartorn Middle East country remains safe.

At least 75 people have died after a car parts plant in China exploded over the weekend. The plant located in eastern Jiangsu Province manufactured for a number of global car companies, including US giant General Motors (GM).

Dubai's Emirates Airline has become the first major international airline outside Africa to suspend flights to Guinea, one of three west African nations now reeling over the Ebola virus outbreak.

U.S. health officials on Sunday said the condition of Ebola-stricken American doctor Kent Brantly is improving. Brantly flew in from Africa on Saturday and went straight to Atlanta to a hospital with a special isolation ward. A second American missionary stricken with the deadly virus will arrive on Tuesday.

Another report says that Apple is on the go to manufacture around 70 million to 80 million units of the two upcoming iPhones which may lead to higher costs of goods and services. The mass production will start this coming August together with the Apple's manufacturing suppliers - Foxconn, Pegatron and Winstronn.

The last week of July was a big week for the U.S. stock market as 22 companies went public. The share launches was led by Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF), which is expected to raise $3.1 billion, making it the largest initial public offering (IPO) in 2014.

Retail investors were among those who were attracted to the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) of Chinese pork producer WH Group on Tuesday, July 29. WH raised $2.05 billion in its second attempt at IPO, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Apparently, the Ebola virus now enveloping three West African nations wouldn't have developed into an outbreak if not for the people's ignorance and belief in witchcraft.

The Fed's view being proven correct. Over the weekend, the non-farm payrolls showed over 200,000 jobs were created, however part-time employment is leading the way and wage inflation is stagnant at best. Average hourly earnings month-on-month fell to 0%, and unemployment rose with participation still sitting near 1977 levels.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 209,000 in July, just short of forecasts tipping a 233,000 lift in jobs. The unemployment rate rose from 6.1% to 6.2%. Personal income rose 0.4% as expected in June. The ISM purchasing managers index rose from 55.3 to a 3-year high of 57.1 in July, above the forecast of 56.0.

The timely intervention of Air Services Australia saved a Malaysia Airlines jet last week from a possible hit by a Tiger Airways.

Fruits are ordinarily sold in boxes when offered in bulk. A Chinese shopowner thought of a brilliant marketing idea to move the fruit in his warehouse faster.

In a move to boost the company's finances, Australian air carrier Qantas is adding six economy class seats for 71 of its Boeing 737s. However, to give way to the added seats, the air carrier would have smaller lavatories and galleys. The current lavatories measure 3 x 3 foot.