BUSINESS

The Australian sharemarket has finished the session weaker for a fifth straight day. The All Ords (XAO) slipped 0.2 percent to 5,292, while the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) fell 0.2 percent to 5,304. Eight out of 10 sectors were lower, led by Utilities, which lost 1.5 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 has fallen 2.7 percent this week on heavy selling in the materials and energy sectors.

Australia and New Zealand will no longer be pursuing the Joint Therapeutic Products Agency.

Australian shares are losing ground for the fifth day and remain only modestly above the 5300pt level. The ASX 200 Index is down by 0.1 per cent at lunch and takes the losses to 2.6 per cent this week. Should nothing change this afternoon this will be the worst week for local shares since June 2013.

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AirAsia will be slashing its number of flights to Australia.

Global markets were mixed as investors focusing on specific economic factors driving sentiment. Equities in the US managed to recover from the FOMC meeting minutes, with investors responding positively to some solid housing data and a sharp bounce in the Philly Fed manufacturing index. The CPI release was also interesting, coming in ahead of estimates; service prices drove the reading despite goods prices actually falling.

In the US, the Philadelphia Fed Business Activity Index lifted from 20.7 to 40.8 in October - its highest reading since 1993. The new orders sub-index was at the highest level in 26 years. US Consumer prices were unchanged in October to be 1.7% higher than a year ago. The tame result was driven by a slide in energy prices (-1.9%) and gasoline prices (-3%) in October. Excluding food and energy prices were up 0.2% to be up 1.8% on a year ago.

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Australian shares extended their losses this afternoon with hefty losses from the miners a major drag. The ASX 200 Index slumped by 1 per cent to 5316.2 and makes it the worst week since early December 2013 for local shares. Equities have fallen for four straight days and are trading at fresh one-month lows.

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Equity trading is getting ugly again; the US has been absent-mindedly meandering higher over the past month yet that lead has not transferred to Asian markets (disregarding the spending machine that is Japan).

Australians could expect a fresh round of juicy details about the country's biggest family feud involving its richest person - Gina Rinehart and her four adult children, two of whom are estranged from the mining tycoon.

In the US, housing starts fell by 2.8% to a 1.009 million annual rate in October. Analysts had tipped a result near 1.025m. But building permits were stronger than expected, up 4.8%. The mortgage market index rose by 5.2% in the latest week. And there were net capital outflows totalling US$55.6m in September.

Target has released its Black Friday 2014 store maps app featuring the various in-store sales for customers.

The ASX 200 continued to lose ground over the course of the afternoon. While the market finished around session lows, the more discouraging aspect of the session was the index breaking down through the 5400 level. In the last day the market had shown some signs of support around this key support level, although today's close indicated that the sellers had won out. The more important measure will be whether the index closes above 5400 on a weekly closing basis.

In the last two and a half weeks there have been only 3 occasion on which the ASX 200 has risen. The weaker trend was once again in force at the open of trade on Wednesday. While the early losses for the ASX 200 were contained; the index was down 18 points at the low of the session; it appeared clear that sellers were still keen to test the index in terms of support around the 5400 mark. Whether the market holds above this level will be one of the key matters to resolve over the remainder of the...

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Walmart has released its Black Friday store maps featuring the various sales offered in-store.

The final market altering event of 2014 is now underway. I've been keenly watching political and fiscal events that have transpired in Japan over the past month. Last night they reached a pinnacle at Prime Minster Abe's press conference.

In the US, producer prices rose by 0.2% in October to be up 1.5% over the year. Core prices (ex food & energy) rose by 0.4% to be up 1.8% on a year ago. The NAHB housing market index improved from 54 to 58 in November.

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Walmart has released its Thanksgiving 2014 ad which has a lot of discounts and sales on various items.

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Local shares have been dipping in and out of positive territory so far today with investors remaining indecisive. The ASX200 Index is unchanged and has been approaching the 5400pt mark; a level not breached since late October.

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