BUSINESS

After a volatile start to the week markets have found something resembling equilibrium as the week draws to a close. In the face of what has at times been a challenging week, one of the consolations has been the consolidation of the ASX 200 around the 5100 level. On Friday morning investors have been content to take the market higher, albeit in unspectacular fashion.

Immigrants to Canada seeking to make the country their second home have to spend more time and should master one official language before becoming legitimate Canadian citizens, based on a set of new stricter rules proposed by Immigration Minister Chris Alexander on Thursday.

A week after Delta Airlines has launched its 1980s-themed inflight safety video, Air New Zealand announced a new similar material that will surely send temperatures inside its cabins soaring with the wind.

Sony has decided to shut down its PC products as it is expected to slash 5,000 jobs.

The Dow and S&P saw a strong bounce overnight, which started from the opening bell and carried through to the close, registering their strongest gain for the year.

In US economic news, the trade deficit widened by 12% to $38.7 billion in December. The deterioration was driven by a 1.8% drop in exports - the biggest decline in over a year. Imports lifted by 0.3%. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 331,000 last week. US productivity rose at a 3.2% pace in the December quarter after an even brisker 3.6% pace in the September quarter.

Because lowering the threshold from the current $1,000 for online purchases made by Australians would only cost more than the federal government would earn, the consumer action group CHOICE proposed a flat tax rate of $14 on parcels.

Three hundred Ford workers in Victoria will become jobless beginning in May and run through the end of the year when the automaker axes their posts through redundancies due to declining demand for vehicles. The soon-to-be affected workers are deployed at the Geelong and Breadmeadow manufacturing facilities.

Are your friends’ Facebook or Twitter profile picture suddenly turning purple? It is not yet another craze that has hit the web; they are doing it for a good cause.

After spending most of the week in the red, the Australian share market rebounded today, lifting by 1.2 per cent and reducing the weekly loss so far to 1.1 per cent.

Waves as high as 60 feet that lashed along Britain's shorelines have washed out portions of a 150-year old railway line into the sea. Residents have been advised to brace for more rains and potential flooding into the weekend.

A new deadly new bird flu strain H10N8 has been discovered in China. At least one has died from the brand-new bird flu strain.

The Australian share market is showing some signs of strength and a rebound after a tough week for investors. US markets were modestly lower overnight, while at lunchtime in the East the ASX is higher by 0.7 per cent.

Kalgoorie Super Pit extends mining to 2029, the company announces

Kiwis once again are saying their stern no to the Ozs.

Singapore's competition watchdog has sought the public to comment on its Web site on the planned alliance between Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) and Air New Zealand Ltd (Air NZ).

Google has just announced the launch of the ultraportable HP Chromebook 11 in Australia.

Indifferent data overnight has done little to quell the divided talk from the Fed about the way it is likely to deal with monetary stimulus over the coming year.

In US economic news, the ISM non-manufacturing index rose by 1 point to 54.0 in January, slightly ahead of expectations. The employment sub-index lifted to 56.4 - a new high since November 2010, and suggested healthy jobs growth in the services sector.

Australian Federal Court judge Michelle Gordon favoured on Wednesday bank customers who lodged a class action lawsuit against ANZ over excessive charges on late payment fees for credit cards.

Apple Inc's iOS platform share continues to grow in the United States while Android is showing a slight decline. Based on comScore data, Apple gained 1.2 per cent in three months with a total platform market share of 41.8 per cent. Google's Android OS lost 0.3 per cent in the same period with a total market share of 51.5 per cent.

Satya Nadella, the 22-year Microsoft veteran, has been declared as the CEO of Microsoft.

Despite a firmer start this morning, the Australian sharemarket has finished 0.5 per cent lower; adding to yesterday's 1.7 per cent slump (worst day in seven months). Since the start of this week, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) has lost 2.3 per cent, the worst week for local stocks since the start of December.

Effective May 5, 2014, Virgin Atlantic will no longer be servicing the Sydney-Hong Kong daily service routes as part of cost-cutting plans to keep the company afloat.

Analysts from UBS looks at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as not being ripe for growth but remains a good stock nonetheless.

Conditions for global markets have improved in the last day following steep declines in the preceding session. Markets were initially spooked by weaker economic news from the US. This outcome antagonised sensitivities around Q.E, driven by concerns that the Fed is acting too quickly in relation to its tapering policy.

Good news for Canadian jobseekers. At least 7,500 jobs will be made available as Walmart announced on Tuesday it plans to spend C$500 million over the next year to add 35 more supercenter stores.

Bill Gates quits Microsoft and takes new role as Microsoft names Satya Nadella new chief executive

The slide we've been seeing in equities finally came to a halt with a recovery in emerging market currencies helping sentiment along. Good gains for the TRY and ZAR helped sentiment with Merkel saying Turkey's talks to join the EU can proceed. There was also some Fed commentary with Lacker saying he expects tapering to continue at upcoming meetings, and Evans suggesting the Fed will not deviate from its tapering course.