BUSINESS

It was another mixed session for European equities, while US markets stormed to another record high. The S&P 500 printed an intraday record high of 1928.63 and closed just a touch below this level. Driving the gains was yet another encouraging round of economic data as many had predicted for this week. A much better-than-expected ISM non-manufacturing PMI print actually set the tone overnight, along with more encouraging comments from the Fed's Beige Book. The employment component of the ISM ...

In US economic data, the ISM services index lifted from 55.2 to a nine-month high of 56.3 in May, ahead of the 55.5 consensus forecast. The ADP national employment index showed that 179,000 private sector jobs were created in May, short of the 210,000 consensus forecast. And the trade deficit rose from US$40.4 billion to US$47.24 billion in April, above the consensus estimate of US$40.8 billion.

Due to the slower domestic capacity growth of both Qantas and Virgin Australia, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said it would translate into higher fares, fewer discounts and higher load factors.

With his next fight still about 6 months away, Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is taking the lull in training to sell one of his numerous assets - a Hancock Park mansion in Los Angeles, California.

Like the Reserve Bank of Australia's overnight cash rate decisions, the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) announcement on Wednesday hiking the minimum wage by 3 per cent or $18.70 per week was a damn if you do, damn if you don't situation for the federal government. Labour unions are not happy at the increase they consider measly, while employers warn the new minimum salary of $640.90 per week by July 1 would lead to job cuts.

Apple Inc. continues its award-winning streak climbing one spot higher in the 2014 Fortune 500 rankings.

The Australian share market was sold off again on Wednesday, despite solid economic growth figures for the March quarter.

Indonesia's Mount Sangeang Api continues to spew ash clouds, but it had dissipated to levels considered safe for planes. According to Kristianto of the Eastern Indonesian division of the geological agency, Sangean Api spewed white ash to heights of one kilometre on Monday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of crippled Fukushima power plant, has started constructing a huge underground ice wall around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. This plan is seen to control and manage the production of toxic water at the complex devastated by a tsunami that was triggered by a magnitude 9 earthquake in March 2011.

Lachlan Wheeler, CEO of an Australian health software company, HealthKit, is not pleased that Apple used his company’s name for its ‘brand new health app’.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) announced on Tuesday the result of its yearly review of Australia's minimum wage. The commission increased the minimum wage by 3 per cent or $18.70 per week, ABC reported.

One of chemotherapy's major side effects includes infertility in both men and women of child-bearing age. This is trying and very difficult for individuals who want to be able to have children after undergoing treatment. Good news is that a new breast cancer drug may be able to prevent women from becoming infertile due to cancer treatment.

The Australian sharemarket is falling for the second day and for the fourth time in five trading days. U.S. stocks snapped a three day win streak, giving the market a negative lead today. Despite a 0.5 per cent rise in the iron ore price, the metal's recent weakness has made the miners less attractive to investors.

Australia's economy is back on a growth path after it registered a 1.1 per cent gross domestic products (GDP) growth rate for the first quarter of 2013, The Australian reports.

New Zealand experts have warned the Australian government to not follow the island nation's welfare system. The Kiwi economists said New Zealand's welfare cuts have created "big holes" as the country is dealing with child poverty.

Apple Inc. revised its set of App Store Review Guidelines opening its door to virtual currencies

Microsoft said that it was planning to bring back the classic 'Start Menu' at its developer conference in April. However, the tech giant did not confirm the official date. Now it was being speculated that, an update to Windows 8.1 scheduled for August 2014 will bring this classic menu back to Windows OS.

US equities were flat overnight, with investors non-committal heading into the business end of the week. The S&P had to come from behind and even managed to test an intraday record high before a minor pullback into the close. With US economic data starting to ramp up, beginning with the ADP non-farm payrolls, trade balance and the GDP reading, some investors feel this warrants a bit of caution. The market certainly seems to be pricing in a strong set of data from the US this week, which puts ris...

In US economic data, factory orders rose by 0.7% in April, above the forecast 0.5% gain. Chain store sales in the latest week were up 3.5% on a year earlier, up from 3.2% in the previous week. And the ISM New York index rose from 627.4 to 630.1 in May.

Australian air carrier Regional Express (Rex) was named on Monday the best performing airline in the country during the Aviation Week and Space Technology's yearly Top Performing Airlines awards.

The losses steadily accelerated today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finishing close to the lows of the day; down 0.7 per cent to 5460.5. Worse than expected Chinese date and softer than forecast retail spending numbers kept investors uninspired.

Apple unveiled its HealthKit among other things during the keynote address of the 25th Anniversary of Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) at Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco, California.

Apple's 25th Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) unveiled OS 10 Yosemite, iCloud Drive, iOS 8, HealthKit, CloudKit, and HomeKit, and Swift Programming Language during Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook's keynote address.

A study by the Met Office and Newcastle University published in the Nature and Climate Change journal has revealed how global warming and climate change will most definitely impact the occurrence of summer downpours and flash flooding in Britain.

The Australian share market is slightly weaker at lunchtime in the East, despite positive offshore gains. Yesterday the Australian share market gained 0.5 per cent.

Apple Inc launches a new and redesigned OS X – the OS X Yosemite

Apple Inc. releases iOS 8 SDK in its Worldwide Developers Conference

Apple Inc. unveils iOS 8, pinned as the biggest release since the App Store

US equities printed a record high yet again, but this time with not quite as much conviction as we've seen in recent sessions. Meanwhile, a shocking German CPI print kept the stimulus camp happy in Europe, especially after the ECB flagged inflation as one of its key concerns. Data out of the US was quite encouraging with the final manufacturing PMI print mildly ahead of consensus, while the ISM manufacturing PMI was relatively in-line with consensus. There was a bit of drama with the ISM prin...