Vittorio Hernandez

The second half of the trading session on Monday provided a little more cause for optimism compared to its earlier counterpart. Buyers finally found some resolve around lunchtime and the ASX 200 was able to recover a solid portion of the early losses. At the best levels of the session the market was down, The ASX200 ending the day down by 0.9 per cent at 5,264.2 points.

#bendgate has taken its toll on the shareprice of Apple. Following the viral video that the iPhone could easily be bent after the device owner sits for a long time with the gadget inside his pants' pocket, almost $23 billion was wiped off the value of the tech giant.

To counter bad press on its newly launched iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus due to complaints that the flagship devices bend easily, Cupertino-based Apple provided a tour of its facility where gadgets manufactured by the tech giant undergo torture tests.

There is growing concern among FBI and police forces in the US over the level of encryption in the newly released iPhone models of Apple, which makes it harder for law enforcement agencies to access iPhones despite a court order.

The Indonesian province of Aceh approved on Saturday a law that punishes people engaged in gay sex with caning. The new law covers followers of Islam and non-Muslims too and even foreigners.

There was a solid bounce in the US markets Friday night, as Q2 GDP was revised to 4.6% on an annualised basis from 4.2% previously.

Even if unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr has an ongoing social media war with competitor Manny Pacquiao, he likely may ignore a dissing by a fashion police of his attire on Friday in Paris.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved over the weekend the $2.2 billion North Galilee Basin Rail project. However, the final approval would be based on Indian mining company Adani meeting 23 conditions.

In US economic data, the final reading on US June quarter GDP was revised up from 4.2% to 4.6%. The result was in line with expectations. The major contributors were a lift in business investment and stronger exports (up 11.1% in June quarter and the biggest gain since 2010). Inflation as measured by the PCE index was unchanged at a 2.3% annual rate. The final University of Michigan Consumer Confidence reading for September held steady at 84.6 and was well ahead of the August result of 82.5.

Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao opted not to dignify the "Miss Pac Man" post of rival Floyd Mayweather Jr on Instagram and Twitter wherein Money May included old photos of Pacquiao's loss to Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez.

From an estimated 8 injured and 250 trapped hikers, the toll from the Saturday noon eruption of Japan's Mount Ontake appears to have risen dramatically. Unofficial estimate place the number of dead victims to more than 30.

The Gay Times named former British Prime Minister Tony Blair one of the top gay icons in the United Kingdom the past three decades. Under his term, the homosexual age of consent was lowered as the same age as heterosexual couples and civil partnerships were introduced.

The dream match between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao is on, not yet in the ring but over social media. In response to the Filipino congressman's comments posted in Twitter on the Nevada State Athletic Commission's investigation in two objectionable scenes in All Access, the American boxer called his rival "Miss Pac Man" in Twitter and Instagram.

Mount Ontake in Japan erupted before noon on Saturday, Sept 27, spewing a large ash plume 3 kilometres up the sky, trapping at least 250 climbers near its summit and injuring at least 8 hikers, reports NHK World TV.

The nude leaks are back and it does not have naked images of male celebrities as speculated but still female personalities. Actress Jennifer Lawrence continues to lead the list of celebrities with photos in this third batch with 55 images.

Apple's successful roll out of the much-anticipated iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus could be short-lived given the number of glitches that hounded the Cupertino-based tech giant.

Three retired New York firefighters who responded to the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center and exposed to toxins died on Monday of cancer.

Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather is just two fights away from retiring with a 49-0 record which would match the boxing record of icon Rocky Marciano. However, his professional boxing career may be placed in peril and even his plan of becoming a full-time promoter may be crashed if the Nevada State Athletic Commission would sanction Money May.

The second half of the session on Friday saw the ASX 200 trade around the lows of the day with a sense that sellers could make an opportunistic move at any time to take the index to new lows. With the losses of recent weeks continuing to mount, the ASX 200 has now seen all of the gains for the year to date erased. At the close of the session the index is now down 1.3 per cent at 5,313.4 points. Corporate and economic news has been limited in recent days. This dearth continued into Friday leaving...

It took 9 bending complaints to steal the thunder from the successful launch of Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus which saw 10 million orders in 24 hours. Now, the pliant flagship seems to be the "laughing stock" of the smartphone world as rival gadget makers poke fun at the flexible device.

Friday morning saw a sadly familiar tale play out for the local share market once again. Selling arrived in another wave at the open after a grim session for stocks in Europe and the US overnight. European shares fell sharply on Thursday, hitting one-month lows in late trade. US share markets slumped led lower by a drop in Apple shares. Geopolitical concerns came to the fore after the Russian high court paved the way for the seizure of foreign assets. An ongoing theme was the rising US dollar wh...

It was risk off for global equities with investors focusing on geopolitical risk and repricing of fed hike expectations. While both these themes have been known for a while, it seems the fact price action just continues to deteriorate is discouraging investors from jumping back into equities.

FBI Director James Comey said on Thursday that the intelligence agency already knows the identity of Jihadist John, the hooded man who had beheaded American journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines.

In US economic data, durable goods orders fell by a record 18.2% in August after lifting by a record 22.5% in July. The fall was in line with expectation (-18%). Excluding volatile transportations orders rose 0.7% in August. US jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 293,000 in the past week. US flash composite PMI eased from 59.7 to 58.8 in September.

The global insurance industry is bracing itself for a $600 million hit for 2014 in the aftermath of the two Malaysia Airlines tragedies and the seizure by rebels of the Tripoli airport in Libya.

The state has no right to prohibit sexual relations between siblings of the opposite sex, the German Ethics Council said. The council wants to repeal laws in the country that ban incest because such regulations intrude into the right of people to sexual gratification.

The departure of Mayweather Promotions Chief Executive Leonard Ellerbe seems imminent as more Mayweathers speak against his handling of the Sept 13 rematch with Marcos Maidana.

Apple said on Thursday that it would replace all iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that have bent as a result of placing it inside pants pocket for a period of time.

The influence of the strong session on Wall Street overnight faded over the course of the Asian session in general on Thursday. In form that has become typical for the Aussie market, buyers continued to withdraw over the second half of the day, and sellers retained the edge. This was best reflected in the final result which saw the ASX 200 end with a 6 point gain, having been up as much as 37 points in the first half hour of trade. The afternoon session began with another lunge from sellers as t...