POLITICS & POLICY

The choice to construct the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Malaysia rather than in Meenar, Western Australia as earlier contained in the blueprint of Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp. stemmed from "a business decision," the company's general counsel told a Malaysian news agency on Thursday.

In US trade, markets rallied in a massively risk-on session. Risk sentiment was greatly improved by reports that Greece was nearing a debt swap agreement with a large enough percentage of private holders to avoid a messy default. Sentiment was also lifted by some relatively hawkish comments from the ECB and stronger-than-expected German economic data.

New claims for unemployment insurance in the US rose by 8,000 to 362,000 in the latest week, ahead of forecasts near 351,000. The four-week average of claims was 355,000, up from 354,750. Planned job layoffs by companies stood at 51,728 in February according to the Challenger survey, down 3.3pct on January.

The Australian sharemarket improved for the first time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) jumping by 0.7 pct or 27.8 pts to 4262.2. Eight of twelve sectors rose over the session, with the energy stocks the best performers.

A NZ Treasury report suggests the Government should be exhausting means to yield public sector savings of $250 million a year. The Treasury’s suggestion could mean a further slashing of 2400 public service jobs, Dominion Post reports.

The captain and officials of MV Rena made “a series of poor decisions,” which led to the ship’s crash into Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga in October, says Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby.

Any global effort to save and prolong the life of Mother Earth, such as investing into and inventing technologies that use clean fuel and green energy are most welcome. But with the world still yet to determine a suitable, dependable and reliable source of rare earths outside of China, these efforts could prove detrimental to the rare earths supply chain.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan remains upbeat that the Labor-led government will deliver a budget surplus in 2013 despite indications that tax collections for the current financial year would fall short of expectations.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith has failed to measure up with the top defence officials and must relinquish his current duties, this according to former Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) commandant Jim Molan.

An Australian graduate school has graded as A the performance of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) released the report on Thursday, to coincide with the International Women's Day. Ms Gillard is Australia's first female prime minister.

The highly debated rare earths processing plant of Lynas Corp. in Malaysia was never part of the Australian miner's overall blueprint submitted and approved a decade ago. In fact, according to the original plan, the now known Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) should have been erected at Meenar, Western Australia.

In US trade, markets rebounded from the previous day's big falls on improved optimism that the Greek debt swap will proceed, and also on better-than-expected ADP US jobs data. The ADP numbers are a good indicator in the build-up to Friday's US non-farm payrolls data. Reports that the Fed is considering a new type of bond-buying program also helped to lift sentiment.

The US ADP National Employment index showed that 216,000 new private sector jobs were created in February, close to market forecasts. In Germany, factory orders fell by 2.7pct in January taking the annual contraction to 4.9pct. A sharp fall in foreign orders was the main driver of the weakness: foreign orders fell by 5.5pct, while domestic orders rose by 0.9pct.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the third straight session today, making it the worst three day pullback for the local market this year. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 1.4 pct or 61.1 pts to 4234.4. All sectors ended in the red, despite some modest gains recorded by the telcos earlier in the day.

Environmental activists were gearing for costly campaigns that they hope would convince Australia to gradually abandon mining, which they claim would bring economic and ecological destruction over the long haul.

The central bank is not keen on forcing the Australian dollar to assume values that were inconsistent with the dictates of market forces, according to Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Philip Lowe.

Greenpeace Australia plans to disrupt and delay coal export projects in the country in a campaign to stop the booming sector. The Australian reports that the funding proposal for the anti-coal campaign considers 2012 and 2013 the critical years.

The New Zealand Immigration has been asked to review its visa-waiver agreement with South Africa amid fears that terrorists could easily obtain a fake passport from the country to gain NZ entry.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated that she intends to maintain harmonious relation with the Australian business community despite the recent backlash spawned by comments aired by a senior member of her government.

The Bank of Queensland (BoQ) increased its home loan interest rate by 10 basis points despite the Tuesday decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to hold the overnight cash rate at 4.25 per cent.

Native spiders went busy spinning their webs to create their new homes on top of tall grasses, bushes and fences.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD has been sold off overnight, trading down to a low of USD 1.0525.

Global market trades have gone awry overnight that might cascade negative sentiments to the local market on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks were on pace for their biggest decline this year, hurt by soft readings on global economic growth and concern over a looming deadline for Greece's bond swap with private bondholders.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second straight day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling by 1.3 pct or 58.7 pts to 4295.5. Almost all sectors finished in the red with the I.T sector the lone improver. The world's largest share registry, Computershare (CPU) was the biggest contributor to the sector's gains, rising by 1.9 pct or 15 cents to $8.05. Listed companies tend to have a share registry that looks after their administration tasks and shareholder responsibilities...

Banks have offered emergency relief packages to assist people affected by the floods in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has maintained the country's benchmark rates at 4.25% considering an economic turnaround by the second half as a result of some structural changes especially the onset of the carbon price on inflation.

The appointment of Senator Kate Lundy as Minister for Multicultural Affairs has received mixed response in Australia. She is the first minister given the portfolio which was abolished in 2007 by then Prime Minister John Howard who preferred to push for a shared national identity.