BUSINESS

With Japan still closed for public holidays by observing Greenery Day, Australia's May data day will be the biggest market macro news on the boards.

In US economic data, the ISM services index rose from 53.1 to an 8-month high of 55.2 in April, and above forecasts for a result near 54.1. The employment trends report rose from 117.5 to 118.0 in April.

Middle Eastern air carrier Etihad launched on Monday a new service in Abu Dhabi, The Residence, which offers a 11.6-square metre 3-room upper deck cabin on its Etihad A380 jet. It has a living room, separate double bedroom, ensuite shower room and even an academy-trained personal butler, travel concierge and chef.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) intercepted an illegal shipment of weapons from China into the country. The contraband includes 5,400 knuckled dusters and 790 tasers that looked like iPhones and torchers.

Apple Inc. has recently won another patent lawsuit against Samsung in San Jose, Calif. on May 2.

The Australian sharemarket has kicked off the trading week modestly higher, in what has been a very light day of trade for local stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 0.1 per cent. Volume was light partly due to market closures in a number of major markets. A public holiday in Japan, South Korea and the U.K. will keep their markets closed today. U.S. equities failed to rise on Friday despite the most significant monthly jobs growth in over two years. Continued concerns surrounding Ukrai...

Samsung has been urged to pay $120 million to Apple by a federal jury that held the tech giant guilty of patent infringement.

Microsoft Corporation has acquired Wellington-based start-up GreenButton. The company announced it has bought the successful New Zealand software start-up for an undisclosed amount. The Kiwi company specialises in high performance cloud computing. The acquisition will boost Microsoft's public cloud offering, Microsoft Azure. GreenButton has advanced technology solutions for running computer-intensive applications while on the cloud. The Kiwi start-ups customers include Boeing, NASA and Pixar ...

Swatch Group AG (UHR) said it will take action against Apple Inc.’s iWatch for being too close to iSwatch

The ASX 200 has given up its early gains on Monday to be trading almost by 0.2% lower as investors focus on banking stocks. Westpac (WBC) shares have fallen more than 1% after having initially risen by 0.8%. The bank reported first-half cash earnings rising by 8 per cent to $3.77 billion in the face of tighter margins.

288,000 jobs were added to the US work force in the month of April - the largest print since June 2010. This saw the unemployment rate fall below the 6.5% threshold to 6.3% for the first time since October 2009.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 288,000 in April, the best gain since January 2012 and well above forecasts for a gain of 210,000. The unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3%. But less people looked for work with the participation rate falling from 63.2% to 62.8%. Factory orders rose by 1.1% in March.

Amazon's unannounced smartphone started making rounds in the internet space with its leaked images, starting last month. The exclusive image gives the first impression of Amazon handset's design and build.

Apple Inc still dominates the world tablet market share and continues to be the top tablet vendor based on a report by research firm IDC. The report came after Apple's recent Q2 FY 2014 earnings call which revealed that iPad sales are slowing down.

The Australian share market closed only slightly firmer by the close of trade on Friday, but closed the week down 1.4 per cent, erasing all of last week's 1.3 per cent gain.

Despite the network problems in the past, recently appointed Vodafone Australia Chief Executive Officer Inaki Berroeta remains positive that it is now Australia's highest performing telephone company.

Air New Zealand’s 40-minute flight between Christchurch and Nelson had transformed into a 25-hour bus ride when the airline was forced to cancel several flights due to bad weather. Passengers had no choice but to spend the night on board three buses.

Apple Inc’s credit ratings failed to impress analysts at Moody’s Investors Service; while Samsung was viewed favourably

Analyst Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Apple Inc stock as a survey found 15 million surge in iPhone sales in the U.S. by 2015

American online shopping store eBay is faced with steady stocks despite the release of its strong first quarter report on Tuesday as investors take into consideration the company's marketplace and second quarter guidance.

Google Inc in Australia will only pay less than $500,000 in taxes despite doubling its profits in the country with $46.5 million. The Australian Tax Office has billed the international search engine giant company with $7.1 million for the year ending Dec 31. However, after tax deductions were made, the final bill was $466,802, according to a Fairfax Media report.

Rumour: Apple Inc’s Earpods will come with health monitoring sensors

A flat open for the ASX 200 has gave way to selling in the early part of trade on Friday. US markets finished on a cautious note as investors ruminate on the outcome of the US jobs report which will be released later this evening local time. Most sectors were in the red, although financials were conspicuous with their decline.

With most of Europe and parts of Asia shut for May Day holidays, leads are coming from the US alone; and with China still observing Labour Day holidays, trade is likely to see positioning before the non-farm payrolls.

In US economic data, the ISM manufacturing index rose from 53.7 to 54.9 in April. The forward-looking new orders index and the employment sub index continued to expand at a healthy pace. US construction spending increased by 0.2% in March. Public construction hits its lowest levels since 2006. However this was offset by private residential construction lifting to the highest levels since May 2008.

Los Angeles Clippers Team Owner Donald Sterling was forced to sell his team after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver came down with the hardest punishment of lifetime ban from the NBA games and $2.5 million penalty over his racist remark that made the general public and netizens frenzy over the past few days.

Embattled Malaysia Airlines is expected to elicit more negative feedback from the relatives of the 239 people aboard the missing Boeing 777 jet with two new developments on Thursday.

After more than 50 days of searching the Indian Ocean and not finding any trace of the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, is the embattled air carrier throwing in the towel?

It was another session where the early trend showed few signs of changing course after the opening bell sounded. With less than half an hour to trade the ASX 200 continued the plumb new lows for the session , the market finished within 10 points of the lowest levels of the day.