BUSINESS

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.

Twitter stocks continue to plummet for two consecutive days after the company's first quarter report on Tuesday revealed higher revenue of $250 million but lower user growth of 255 million compared with the analyst estimates of $241.47 million revenue and 257 million user growth.

Apple Inc. paid a total of $23.9 million in fees to underwriters from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground for the second time this week, with the mining and financials the biggest drags on trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.4 per cent and is trading below 5450.0pts.

The United States has started calculating costs now that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has entered a new phase. Suffice to say, the global economic leader hinted nothing in this world could ever possibly be cost-free.

With roughly only 24 months to go, the International Olympic Committee is wondering if Rio de Janeiro will ever be able to complete its preparations in time for the 2016 Olympic Games. An IOC senior official has blasted the country's preparations for the global games as the worst ever that he has seen so far.

Businesspeople who uses Microsoft's OneDrive for their cloud storage can soon get more value for their money after software magnate Microsoft announced in a blog entry entitled "Thinking Outside the Box" that the company will increase of storage space of their corporate clients from 25GB to 1TB per user.

Currently, when materials are up, financials reverse and vice versa; for Australia today, it appears that the banks will be up, and materials down.

In US economic data, the economy grew at a 0.1% annual pace in the year to March, short of forecasts for a gain of 1.2%. The ADP survey showed that 220,000 private sector jobs were created in April, above forecasts for a gain of 210,000. Employment costs rose by 0.3% in the March quarter, below forecasts for a gain of 0.5%.

The New South Wales government announced on Wednesday the sale of the Newcastle Port, the world's biggest coal export terminal, for $1.62 billion to joint venture partners Hastings Fund Management and China Merchants.