BUSINESS

New Zealand has joined into the fray of search and rescue operations for the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that went missing on Saturday early morning.

We are currently inundated with influential macro events: China data; Russian-Ukrainian tensions; sluggish Japanese data; indifferent US data; steel demand in China and the slide into bear markets of industrial commodities.

In US economic data, the employment trends index rose from 115.99 to 116.39 in February.

Air Canada is studying the possibility of hiking its plane fares due to the country's weak currency, including charging for initial checked luggage.

The Australian share market started the trading week firmly in the red today, following a sharp fall in the iron ore price which weighed on mining stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed down 46.2 points or 0.8 per cent to 5430.8 after rising 1.1 per cent over the course of last week.

Families of passengers aboard missing ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have been barraging telecom service providers to look into the mobile accounts of their loved ones. They claim to have been calling their phones and that these were ringing.

With the confirmation that Apple Inc’s CarPlay is running on BlackBerry’s QNX platform, which stock changed the game for which?

Apple Ex-CEO John Sculley plans to launch a new smartphone in India. The brand name is not disclosed yet, but its leader is already known - Ajay Sharma, former head of the smartphone division of Micromax and HTC India.

A new study published in the Science journal has advised governments and health authorities as well as travelers wishing to visit Africa, Asia, Central and Southern America to up their proactive measures against the malaria-carrying mosquitoes as cases of the disease will multiply each year due to global warming.

In the court fight between Apple and Samsung, Apple renewed its request for a permanent ban of Samsung products, specifically 23 smartphones and computer tablets. However, Judge Lucy Koh denied the request.

Cases of thyroid cancer among children residing in Fukushima have grown steadily since the disastrous March 2011 incident. Citizens have all but lost hope and confidence in their government. And three years after, no one has been made accountable for the supposed worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl.

Apple was looking to capitalize a permanent ban on Samsung products due to the patent infringements. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, ruled that Apple had not presented enough evidence to show that its patented features were a significant enough driver of consumer demand to warrant an injunction.

Paul Weeks was headed to Mongolia to pursue his "dream job" in what he believed will help him provide comfortably for his family. His wife Danica is praying for a miracle that could still come true. Mr Weeks is one of the 239 passengers now part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that went out of the radar over the weekend and disappeared over the South China Sea.

The Australian sharemarket is having its worst day since early February, partly driven by a fall in China's monthly trade surplus and a weaker iron ore price. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.7 per cent, with the mining sector the the biggest loser. This is only the sixth time in 23 sessions that the local market is losing ground.

We start the week on a downbeat note with a raft of disappointing headlines from the weekend putting Asia on the back foot. While non-farm payrolls surprised significantly to the upside on Friday, disappointing China data, escalating Russia/Ukraine concerns and the missing Malaysian aircraft have all contributed to a sombre mood.

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 175,000 in February, ahead of forecasts for a gain of 149,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose slightly from 6.6% to 6.7%. Average earnings grew by 0.4%. The trade deficit expanded from US$38.7 billion to US$39.1 billion in January, just ahead of forecasts.

China is optimistic that by the end of 2014, it would have signed a free trade agreement with Australia. Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said in a press briefing on Friday that the prospects of inking the deal as soon as possible were optimistic.

Although the Malaysian government is not dismissing the possible that the cause of Flight 370's disappearance is terrorism after it was revealed that two passengers used stolen Italian and Austrian passports, rescuers are studying another angle.

Passengers of the Malaysian Airlines plane that went missing on early Saturday while flying over South China Sea included telecom executives, metal traders, beach goers, two babies, calligraphers and a Queensland couple who are empty nesters. The Sydney Morning Herald identified the Aussie empty nesters as Catherine and Robert Lawton, 54 and 57, who are flying to different parts of the world after their three adult daughters have left home.

The ill-fated Malaysian Airlines plane is still missing, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday. He quoted the confirmation from the Vietnamese Navy that it has not yet located the wreckage of the jet in its territorial waters to belie a previous report that the plane crashed into the South China Sea.

Apple Inc is increasing is iOS market share in North America with 65 per cent using Apple devices to connect to the Internet. Using ad impressions in North American between February 26 and March 4, Chitika Insights was able to measure how many people use Apple's iOS compared with Android.

Saturday is International Women's Day. As a means of celebration, Aussie women will be proud to know that they are ranked 5th among the noblest women among 29 countries.

The last 5 trading days have seen the local market progress as investor focus shifted from the concerns surrounding The Ukraine and Russia towards more encouraging news in relation to the domestic economy. As a result the market recovered from the 0.4% loss on Monday to be ahead by almost 1% for the week at the close of trade this afternoon.

Staples has decided to close down over 10 percent of its North American stores by end of 2015. The company has 1,846 stores at present in North America, including Canada and the U.S.

The Australian sharemarket is firmer thanks partly to a surge in U.S. equities overnight and yesterday's better than expected retail spending and trade figures locally. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is rising by 0.3 per cent; making it the fourth straight day of improvements and a 5.5 year high for local stocks.

Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person who just added another $700 million to her $17 billion wealth in the last 12 months, warned that Australia is living beyond its means.

Risk assets mostly extended gains overnight, with some positive US economic data and dissipating Russia/Ukraine concerns helping sentiment. The latest on the Crimea front is that it will hold a referendum on 16 March on whether to join the Russian Federation or not. That could be the next talking point as the international community seems to be against this move.

In US economic data, new claims for unemployment insurance (jobless claims) fell by 26,000 to 323,000 in the latest week. Economists had tipped a result near 338,000. And factory orders fell by 0.7% in January, a weaker result than the 0.4% decline expected by economists. Productivity grew at a 1.8% annual pace in the December quarter with labour costs down 0.1%. Economists had tipped a 2.5% lift in productivity and 0.9% fall in labour costs.

Just a week after Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce confirmed it would slash 5,000 jobs over three years to cut costs by $2 billion, the embattled flag carrier started to yield its axe with 90 full-time check-in staff at the Sydney international airport its likely first victims.