MARKETS

In Asia, regional markets are mostly higher this Thursday following a solid set of leads from the US. Bargain hunting in Japan has lifted stocks, with the Nikkei 225 1% firmer. Elsewhere, The Hang Seng and Kospi are up 0.8% and 0.9% respectively while the Shanghai Composite is 0.4% stronger.

The Australian stock market was flat at midday as company earnings results failed to inspire many investors and. with no market-moving data set for release

Diverse company Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) revealed on Thursday that the company gained a 2.8 percent improvement on its 2010 full-year profit, pushing further the Australian conglomerate’s businesses to promising heights for the second half of the year.

Once again the Australian share market is trading flat, as weakness in blue-chip stocks offsets positive earnings results. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 2.6pts to 4501.3 at lunchtime in the east.

Japanese carmaker Mazda Motor Corp announced on Wednesday that a total of 315,000 Mazda3s and Mazda5s would be recalled in North America to fix the cars’ faulty power-steering system, which the company said could heighten the possibility of crashes.

US mortgage applications rose sharply last week, lifting 13.0pct in response to strong refinancing demand. The refinancing index soared by 17.1pct to 15-month highs although the purchase index actually fell by 3.4pct.

Retailers led U.S. stocks slightly higher Wednesday as better than expected earnings from Target lifted fellow department store chains Kohl's and J.C. Penney.

The Australian Dollar opens lower today against the greenback at 0.8980.

The Australian Dollar is steady after a relatively quiet night on the economic data front gave the markets little to draw on as far as the state of the economic recovery in the US and Europe is concerned.

Retail property specialist Westfield Group (ASX: WDC) said on Wednesday that it has climbed back to profit status, managing to collect $961 million in net profit from the first six months leading to end of June this year.

Australian exports have a stable market in the top three economies of the world. China, for one, moves on to overtake Japan as the second largest economy, next to the United States.

The AUD has opened stronger this morning gaining overnight with news that China will take over Japan's place as the world's second largest economy.

US NAHB housing market index fell 1pt to 13 in August - marking the third straight month of falls and a 17-month low. A reading below 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as poor rather than good.

U.S. stocks bounced around in jumpy trading Monday, as major manufacturers including 3M lagged but technology companies Cisco and Intel jumped thanks to buzz generated by new deals activity.

Poor growth data released in Japan yesterday was enough for investors to once again eschew riskier assets which saw the Australian Dollar dip towards 0.8860 early in the Asian session.

The Australian currency opened in a better position today, thanks to news its primary trading partner, China, has overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy.

The Australian share market opened flat following mixed leads from offshore trade overnight.

Oops, but aren't the US, Chinese and Japanese economies, the world's three biggest, suddenly in synch again, on the dow...

Oops, but aren't the US, Chinese and Japanese economies, the world's three biggest, suddenly in synch again, on the dow...

Oops, but aren't the US, Chinese and Japanese economies, the world's three biggest, suddenly in synch again, on the dow...

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Virgin Blue is abandoning New Zealand after millions of dollars of losses in the three years of flying domestically ac...

The Australian market closes down 21 points

Investor confidence in Australian shares has increased by 4.9 per cent in March despite the ongoing federal election campaign and mounting international concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth, according to data released today.

The global economic crisis has spawned a ‘lost generation’ of unemployed youth, which according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) would be hard up to recover following the two years of worldwide recession.

The Australian share market was down in intra-day trading by midday, but bounced off its lows of the session, buoyed by earnings results.

The local market opened lower today following a weak lead from overseas on the weekend.