EQUITIES

The local market lacked guidance today due to mixed data from overseas markets overnight.

GSO Capital Partners LP, the credit business of The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), has announced the final closing of the Blackstone / GSO Capital Solutions Fund (“the Fund”) with total commitments of over $3.25 billion. The Fund’s strategy is focused on providing privately negotiated “capital solutions” to companies in need of liquidity or significant capital structure transformation due to pending covenant violations, debt maturities, cyclical downturns in their businesses or other funding r...

Hedge funds as measured by the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index (“GGHFI”) cut net exposures and limited the losses experienced by markets in June. The GGHFI shed 0.84% compared to global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return -5.23%, MSCI World Equity -3.56%, and FTSE 100 -5.23% equity indices. 42% of constituent funds in the GGHFI ended the month with gains.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued warnings on Monday that thousands of ordinary investors could be burned by the high-risk investments contracts for difference (CFDs) as it reported that industry players are deliberately downplaying the risks entailed in betting to the investment products.

Official figures furnished on Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the country posted a trade surplus for two consecutive months going into May and many economists are in agreement that Australia is all prepped up to enter a series of surplus performance in the months to come.

US non-farm payrolls (employment) fell by 125,000 in June, above forecasts for a decline of 100,000 workers.

This morning's dramatic changes made by the government to the RSPT is a huge win for Australia's biggest industry and should go a long way to easing the markets concerns.

Mining companies’ gains on yesterday’s leadership change were reversed today as overall share market slid by 1.4 percent, with the All Ordinaries index dipping by 60 points to 4,444 as of 1438 AEST while the ASX 200 shed 62 points to 4,418.

Asian stocks plummeted its biggest in two weeks as U.S. home sales slowed down anew in May unexpectedly raising concerns on the fragility of the world's biggest economy.