BUSINESS

The Australian sharemarket has broken a two day losing streak, helped by fresh record highs in US markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.9 per cent, making it the best day for local shares in over two months.

London-based Audioboom Group PLC (LSE: BOOM.L) is on an expansion mode. The provider of social media platform for audio producers to record either live or from the studio, upload and share audio by syndication and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook has now about 2,000 content channels.

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US equities extended gains on the back of the Fed meeting, printing fresh record highs, while the greenback lost some ground as yields fell. Most of the results from the meeting were expected, with the Fed tapering by an additional $10 billion and highlighted some positive signs in the US economy. While the Fed sounded upbeat about the economy, it certainly managed to maintain a dovish tone. Despite the tick up in inflation and fall in unemployment, Janet Yellen feels the easy monetary condition...

The US Federal Reserve has reduced its monthly asset purchases by US$10 billion to US$35 billion a month. The Federal Reserve has cut the forecast range for economic growth in 2014 from 2.8-3.0% to 2.1-2.3%. Fed chief Janet Yellen said that weaker-than-expected growth could delay any move to lift interest rates.

Supermarket giant Coles could be facing a fine of up to $1.1 million per violation or over $3 million total penalty after the Federal Court found on Wednesday its claim of selling freshly baked bread as false and breached three sections of the Australian Consumer Law.

A hundred days after it first went missing and with apparently still no end in sight, authorities investigating into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 continued to rally on hoping for a glimmer of hope. Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre on Wednesday said a new search zone will be released by end of June.

The Australian share market closed lower for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, taking weekly losses so far to 0.4 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed lower by 17 points or 0.3 per cent to 5363.9 points.

Apple Inc.'s iPad has lost to Samsung Electronics in a tablet competitive assessment study. Results indicated iPad is no longer the most dominant tablet in the market.

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The Australian sharemarket has been modestly lower for the second consecutive session for most of the morning. A 1.5 per cent slump from the energy sector and weakness from the banks are holding stocks back most. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now largely flat with the index off by just 0.2pts.

Zara and other international retailers’ Australian earnings are dwindling – a signal that worst is over for local department store, says Myer’s Bernie Brookes

Air Canada has ran into an expected delay in the delivery of its 251-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner, forcing the airline to lease planes for three summer routes, including Spain and South America.

With Apple Inc expected to launch an iWatch later this year based on various reports, analysts have begun to speculate and make their own predictions as to how many wearable devices the iPhone maker can sell.

Equities were firmer overnight despite a mixed round of economic data. In the UK, CPI came in well below estimates while in Europe the ZEW economic sentiment readings for Germany and the region also disappointed. Perhaps the weak data prompted equities higher given investors are hoping to continue seeing stimulus in Europe and low rates in the UK. In US trade it was all about the much stronger-than-expected CPI print. The reading had the market talking that perhaps the Fed's inflation target ...

In US economic data, the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in May - the most in more than a year - while the core rate (excludes food and energy) rose by 0.3%. Economists were tipping 0.2% increases for both series. But housing starts fell by 6.5% to 1.001 million in May after rising by 13.2% in April. Economists had tipped a result near 1.034 million. And weekly chain store sales were up 3.5% on a year earlier, up from 3.3% in the previous week.

Morgan Ball, the director of BC Iron, said on Tuesday that the mood in Perth is apprehensive but pragmatic after iron ore prices dipped to its 2012 level of $89 per tonne.

Once again sellers have focussed their attention on the 5400 level for the ASX 200, and once again buyers have shown their willingness to defend the key psychological level. The lows of the session were made in the first half an hour of trade. Thereafter sellers retired for several hours and the index recovered to trade at the best levels of the day at 5417. With an afternoon largely free of event, the index retreated to end the session flat.

German designer Hartmut Esslinger says that smartwatches are nothing but stupid devices

The full strike threat of British Columbia's unionized teachers will now most likely push through after both the group and the B.C. government failed to settle wage offer negotiations over the weekend.

Canadian Securities Administrators on Monday warned investors to be cautious when investing in medical marijuana stocks.

Campbell Soup's (NYSE: CPB) share of the soup market is shrinking because of changing consumer food preference as more people opt for healthier fares. This, in turn, has benefitted private-label brands whose sales are now eating into the soup giant's sales.

All of Monday's improvements have been wiped out after two hours of trade this morning. Continued iron ore weakness, geopolitical concerns in Iraq and Russia together with a downgrade for US growth estimates are some of the major drivers. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.15 per cent, with the mining and energy sectors the worst performers.

From a business and investment standpoint, addiction rehab stocks are tricky because you don't want to offend anyone when covering the market potential of the targeted segment.

Natal, the Brazilian host city of this year's 2014 World Cup, has issued a flood alert after it received a whopping amount of water from two days of non-stop rains.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is selling its majority shares in Woodside Petroleum for $5.32 billion after tax. That is equivalent to 157 million shares out of 190 million, in effect reducing its stake in the oil and gas company to 4.5 per cent from 23 per cent.

After a downbeat European session, sentiment managed to recover in US trade, despite a continuation of Iraq concerns. There was some positive data out of the US including the Empire State manufacturing index, industrial production and the NAHB housing market index. However, investors seem to be looking ahead to the Fed meeting. The IMF was also on the wires downgrading the US growth forecast for 2014 to 2% (from 2.8%) and maintained 2015 growth at 3%. Major currency pairs just continue to hold t...