BUSINESS

The Australian sharemarket maintained most of its gains this afternoon to close near six-year highs and improve for the fifth straight day. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed above the 5,500 point mark for the first time in 2014, with the XAO rising by 0.64 per cent to 5502.2.

It has been speculated that Apple is going to have a partnership with Nike.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the fifth day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.5 per cent. A little earlier, the All Ords was trading above the 5500pt mark for only the second time this calendar year.

Apple Inc Q2 FY14 is scheduled on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET

The lucrative Mt Everest climbing season about to start in mid-May has been cast into doubt as sherpa guides united on Tuesday to abandon 2014's climbing activity following the death of 16 comrades by an avalanche on Friday.

Apple is set to roll out two iPhone models in 2014. The company will have a 4.7-inch screen and the other will have a 5.5-inch display, as claimed by earlier reports.

Singapore Airlines announced on Tuesday it has made necessary reductions in its Airbus A380 flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

Nokia has announced in a press release the company will wrap up its $7.9 billion deal with Microsoft on April 25.

The light Easter trading continued in Europe and the US overnight. The Easter mergers and acquisitions dance also continued as drug maker GSK traded its cancer division to Swiss competitor Novartis.

In US economic data, existing home sales fell by just 0.2% to a 4.59 million annual rate in March, above forecasts for a result near 4.55m. The FHFA home price index rose by 0.6% in February to stand 6.9% higher than a year ago. The Richmond Federal Reserve index rose from minus 7 to +7 in April.

The rising new Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, promises not just to be an architectural landmark with its unique UFO-shaped design, but also a showcase of green technology.

The Adobe Flash Player is the touchstone for rich, salient and high-impact web content. Designs, graphics, animations, and user interfaces are deployed immediately across all browsers and platforms, guaranteeing rich and seamless virtual experience. For high quality video streaming, Adobe's Flash Player versions are the golden standard in the blogosphere.

A day before Apple is due to reveal its earnings report for Q2 FY 2014, Fortune magazine has compiled the company's predictions from 37 analysts.

The Australian share market rose in thin trading volumes on the first day of the shortened trading week. Markets were closed yesterday for the Easter Monday holiday and will be shut again on Friday for Anzac Day.

Tactus Technology, a start-up company, is making waves in the tech industry with its latest accessory constructing transparent keyboard buttons on top of any touchscreen display.

Concerns over "production practices" had prompted Health Canada to issue a recall notice against a British Columbia supplier of medical marijuana. The specific pot is Purple Kush, Batch PK-10-20-13, manufactured by Greenleaf Medicinals that is based in Nanaimo.

New Zealand economists have rejected the claims of an analyst writing for U.S. magazine, Forbes, that the country is headed for "a major fall." Jesse Colombo wrote in a Forbes column that New Zealand's housing market was "overvalued" and an increase in interest rates could lead to recession. The 28-year-old analyst suggested that along with Australia, Canada and other countries, New Zealand's economic bubble could burst. Mr Colombo said the bubble could pop and he expected it ...

Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are facing trial against an alleged conspiracy law suit of agreeing to keep wages down of their experienced employees

The Australian share market has resumed trade after the Easter break on a positive note, rising 0.4 per cent in thin trading volumes.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has set aggressive plans to confront Google head on by convincing Apple to make Yahoo the default search engine in the iPad and iPhone's Safari Web browser. She is well backed up by Adam Cahan, senior vice president for mobile and product search department of Yahoo, and already supported by a longtime acquaintance inside Apple and some of its executives.

A month after air pact between New Zealand and the Philippines was signed in March, one of the latter's budget carriers has applied to mount flights to the Kiwi nation.

There have been some very interesting corporate developments over the Easter break around corporate auctions. AstraZeneca, the UK's second largest pharmaceutical company, received a takeover bid from US giant Pfizer, Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold are in talks for a 'merger of equals' as US medical company Allergan is under interest from investment activist William Ackman - a deal which is believed to be worth over US$50 billion.

In US economic data, the national activity index eased from a revised reading of +0.53 points in February to +0.20 points in March. The leading index rose by 0.8% in March, higher than the market expectation for a gain of +0.7%.

It would soon be easier to smuggle into dorms and even restaurants alcohol drinks without detection with the recent approval by the Alcohol and Tobacco tax and Trade Bureau of alcohol in powdered form.

The mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 360 seems to have created a Flight 370 syndrome characterised by air passengers fearing the worst-case scenario once their plane turns around or diverts from its original route.

Despite criticisms and vulnerability regarding the Heartbleed bug, Dropbox, a U.S. online storage giant, has announced it will soon open in Sydney to further support Australian customers.

Google has filed a new patent application with the U.S. Patent Office for a contact lens, which comes embedded with a tiny camera.

For Apple Inc.'s investors who expect a strong June quarter, Chuck Jones, a prominent writer of Forbes, has lower expectations. Wall Street's predictions for Apple's June quarter is equally disappointing for those hoping for a big Apple comeback.

The ASX 200 ended Thursday's session with a flourish having posted highs in the late morning. The index tapered away in the afternoon although it kicked higher to end the week with a gain of almost 0.5%. This was a noteworthy turnaround considering the weak tone that marked the early part of the week.