Vittorio Hernandez

The Australian share market has ended a 6 session losing streak on Thursday with a gain of 9.6 points. The ASX 200 trade through a range of 41 points from low to high. The market was down 2 points at its worst levels and up 39 points at its best.

Buyers have made a rare impression on the ASX 200 in early trade on Wednesday. After 6 consecutive sessions of losses the share market has spent the morning in positive territory, having opened with a small loss of 2 points, before moving on to a gain of 33 points at session highs. As lunchtime approached the ASX 200 was ahead by 32 points.

New York's boxing circle still looks highly at American boxer Chris Algieri despite his Nov 22 heartbreaking loss to Filipino champ Manny Pacquiao. Algieri will be given the RING 8 (NY) Fighter of the Year award on Sunday.

If there are awards for bad parenting, 47-year-old Christopher Sena of Las Vegas would probably be a grand slam winner.

The Australian Dollar is unchanged from this time yesterday, having given back some overnight gains as volatility increases in global markets.

American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr allegedly witnessed last week the murder of actress Stephanie Moseley in the hands of her jealous husband, rapper Earl Hayes, a close friend of the boxer. On Monday, hoax news blogsite Despiera Tico, claimed that it was Mayweather himself who died of drug overdose. The satire news said the boxer was rushed to Cedars Sinai after he was found in his house unconscious on the sofa, and his body was allegedly "covered with large amounts of cocaine and many bottle...

It's the end of the year, a busy season for doomsayers and hoaxers. This explains why everyone is talking either about World War 3 to be initiated by Russia or writing hoax articles.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott continues to lose public support. A few days ago, Opposition leader Bill Shorten was considered by respondents in a survey as preferred PM.

Equities rebounded in European trade whilst US equities struggled as investors exercised caution heading into the FOMC meeting. Additionally, oil prices remained extremely volatile, with weakness prevailing. In Europe, traders focused on surprisingly firmer manufacturing and services PMIs, along with a vast improvement in the ZEW economic sentiment readings.

In US economic data, housing starts fell by 1.6% in November to a 1.028 million unit pace. Building permits fell by 5.2% in November. Despite the mild pullback the housing sector continues to see healthy improvement. The Markit Flash PMI eased from 54.8 to 53.7 in December - a 11 month low. A reading above 50 still signalled an expansion in activity. Across the sub-indices output and employment expanded at a slower pace.

Losses worsened this afternoon with Australian shares falling by 0.7 per cent and closing at a fresh two-month lows in the process. The ASX 200 Index lost 0.7 per cent with both mining and energy industries slumping by around 2 per cent.

On Tuesday, Sydney was full of life and blooming with floral bouquets. It's a far cry from the previous day when the streets of the commercial business district were deserted due to the Sydney Siege at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe at Martin Place.

Disgraced former MP Craig Thomson may have been acquitted on Monday by Victorian County Judge Carolyn Douglas of 49 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception charges, but it doesn't mean he won't go to prison. That's because he was convicted on 13 counts of theft.

Australian shares are falling for the sixth straight session and trading at two month lows. The ASX 200 Index is down 0.5 per cent with the energy and mining sectors continuing to be the main liabilities.

If the world was shocked by the report of the Senate on how the CIA tortured suspects in the 9/11 attack, people should brace for a stronger jolt as a federal judge in the U.S. is set to authorise the release on Friday of 2,000 photos that would further place the military is a bad light.

The Sydney siege ends in tragic circumstances in the early hours of this morning with a sad loss of life for some innocent people. Market moves in Australia remain dominated by global events.

Equities tapered off in the US and tracked weakness seen in Asian and European trade. Turmoil in the energy space continued to cloud positive developments on the US economic data front.

In US economic data, industrial production rose by 1.3% in November after advancing by 0.1% in October - marking the largest rise since May 2010. Capacity utilisation rose from 79.3 to 80.1 - the highest reading since March. The New York Fed Empire State index fell from +10.16 to -3.58 in December - the first negative result in almost a year. US NAHB Housing Market Index eased from 58 to 57 in December - highlighting that home builder sentiment remained relatively optimistic.

Forty-nine-year-old Sheik Man Haron Monis, the gunman who held hostage customers of Lindt Chocolate Café in Sydney, was more than just an extremist Muslim but had a string of criminal cases behind him, ranging from sexual assault to murder.

Australian shares at 2.30pm AEDT are down by 0.6 per cent; adding to last week's 2.2 per cent slump. Although most sectors are losing ground the telcos, IT stocks, utilities and healthcare industries are modestly firmer. Mining companies are faring worst; with BHP Billiton (BHP) down 1 per cent and Rio Tinto (RIO) is down 1.1 per cent.

The Australian Dollar has opened trading this morning in the mid .8200's after another day of weaker commodity and equity markets on Friday.

Global equities extended their slide on Friday, with investors continuing to focus on the slump in oil prices. Oil remained at levels not seen since mid-2009 with WTI remaining below $60 per barrel. Apart from China, which benefited from some surprisingly solid data, the rest of the globe struggled on Friday. Retail sales and fixed asset investment were mildly better than expected, but industrial production fell short presumably due to factory closures ahead of the APEC summit.

Like Super Typhoon Ruby, ABS-CBN news reader Korina Sanchez came on too strong to many televiewers when she expressed hope that Hagupit (Ruby) would spare the Philippines and instead hit Japan.

When Floyd Mayweather Jr. said two weeks ago that he should get two-thirds of the guaranteed purse, speculated to range from $100 million to $250 million, for him to agree to fight Manny Pacquiao, many thought it was just another of his delaying tactics to evade the dream match.

Based on the movement of iron ore prices in the global market, mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) forecast that the price of this key-steelmaking ingredient would not breach $100 per tonne.

Australian public servants are waiting on Monday for the announcement which agencies would be closed as part of the federal government's saving measures for its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

In US economic data, consumer sentiment rose from 88.8 to 93.8 in December - a near eight-year high. The survey's barometer of current economic conditions rose from 102.7 to 105.7 - highest level since February 2007. The survey's one-year inflation expectation rose from 2.8% to 2.9%.

Boxing fans surely have marked May 2, 2015 on their calendars following Floyd Mayweather's announcement on Friday that he is accepting Manny Pacquiao's challenge to meet on the ring.

The Australian sharemarket has closed weaker, with investors cautious ahead of the release of a raft of Chinese economic data, including retail sales and industrial production for the month of November. The ASX 200 slipped 0.2 percent to 5,219. Today's falls takes this week's losses to 2.2 percent.