BUSINESS

Nokia may just unveil new handsets by the first week of September, reports said, likely jumping the gun on Apple, which earlier has strongly indicated that the latest iPhone version would hit global markets no later than the mid-part of the same month.

The car repair industry in Australia criticised on Thursday the decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) not to require the recall of 24,000 made-in-China vehicles with asbestos fibre parts.

By Jonathan BarrattEconomic numbers from China last week and the lack of any follow through on stimulus talks from central banks over the last few weeks has seen some weakness reemerge into the copper market.

The Federal Magistrates Court in Sydney slapped on Wednesday a $15,500 fine on a Qantas and a manager for bullying an employee. Citing the Fair Work Act, the court said Qantas manager Peter Cawthorne coerced aircraft engineer Luke Murray into withdrawing a claim worth $10,000.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) customers would likely find it harder to accept the bank's explanation that following Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) overnight cash rate decisions could threaten its profitability.

By Greg PeelThe Dow dropped 7 points, the S&P was up 0.1% to 1405 and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%.It is looking increasingly likely the Fed will not need to provide additional stimulus in any big way in September.

The Australian sharemarket eased a touch for the first time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling 0.2 pct or 10.4 pts to 4307. The mining sector was the biggest drag on trade, with the S**9**P/ASX 200 Materials index slumping by 1.35 pct or 131.2 pts to 9620.7.

Etihad Airways is aggressively on the roll and its Australian CEO, James Hogan, declared on Wednesday that following its substantial holdings acquisitions on Virgin Australia and three other carriers in Europe, the airline is looking for more.

Two prominent Microsoft OEM partners have expressed plans not to join the Windows RT tablet bandwagon, not yet at least, reportedly to focus their efforts on the more powerful Windows 8 slate that will hit the market in the early months of 2013.

International frequent travellers might as well start to practice the feeling of being bodily scanned by a $230,000 worth security machine as Australia starts to roll-out those humongous equipment effective November 2012 in all its international airports.

Local stocks are trading in the red at lunchtime, following an unconvincing offshore lead and mixed commodity prices. A report showing the Eurozone economy shrank in the second quarter met expectations, and European shares rose in thin trade, however US markets were again mixed as were commodities. At midday in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 22.5pts or 0.5pct to 4294.9.

The Office of Insurance Regulation in Florida ordered Praetorian, the subsidiary of Australian insurer QBE Insurance, to cut its home insurance premiums by one-third. QBE actually offered to reduce its rates by 2.2 per cent, but Commissioner Kevin McCarty asked the insurer to cut it by at least 35 per cent.

Three of Brazil's largest telecommunication companies will have to spend more than $9.8 billion to upgrade their internet and mobile access services ahead of the upcoming football World Cup in 2014, reported the Financial Times on Monday, after the Brazilian government threatened to punish the companies unless they did so.

The German and French economies showed signs of resilience as the two eurozone countries performed slighter better than expected.

Groupon Inc., online shopping giant, on Monday published its quarterly profit as its shares dropped by nearly 20 percent due to revenue miss and investors' concern over growth in the next months.

FNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website. This week ATW's Jerry Simmons looks at the AUD rally, discusses a steadier run for the euro, prognosticates on a few market indices futures and soy beans, among many other things.

Lawyers of the largest class action lawsuit in Australia told the High Court on Tuesday that ANZ bank charged customers with excessive bank fees for overdrawing their accounts.

Game developers Electronic Arts anticipate profits derived from the digital downloads of their games to overtake the sales of physical gaming software within the span of a couple of years and according to their chief operating officer, the company is now directing its attention towards increasing its range of products meant for mobile and free-to-play.

A National Australia Bank (NAB) official said on Tuesday that in the next few years, Australian banks would rely less on wholesale funding and instead focus on deposits as the main source of their lending operations.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 2 points, the S&P was flat at 1403 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.2%.The US economy is consumer-driven, hence data on consumer spending are an important indicator of the health of the US economy.

Despite China being a major manufacturing hub and the second largest economy, the desultory Made-in-China tag continues to hound the Asian giant. Ateco Automotive, the Australian importer of made-in-China vehicles, could recall 25,000 Great Wall and Chery brand vehicles over its asbestos fibre contents in the car's engine and exhaust gasket.

Four Australian cities landed on top 10 list by the Economist Intelligence Unit of the Global Liveability Survey of 140 worldwide cities. However, Brisbane officials are questioning the survey because the city is only 20th on the list below Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.

Local stocks managed a small win today, despite a negative lead from the US Dow Jones Index and as European shares eased from four month highs. Defensive stocks led the gains locally, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 7.9pts or 0.2pct by close to finish at 4317.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the second straight day, despite a weaker start to trade this morning. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.2 pct or 8.1 pts to 4317.6 at lunch. Most sectors are gaining modest ground, with the exception of the miners and financials.

Google has commenced reengineering efforts on Motorola Mobility, signalling serious intents on the part of the tech giant to turnaround at the soonest possible time an ailing firm it bought for more than $12 billion in May this year.

By Prof. Francesco GiavazziSpain looks set to turn to the EFSF for a formal bailout subject to stringent conditionality.

Along with the return of its chief executive, ING Direct launched on Monday a new TV advertisement that features male backside as its catch-on.

By Greg PeelBHP Billiton ((BHP)) is currently reviewing its portfolio of large scale capex projects intended to carry the company into the future.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is making renewed efforts against insider trading by launching a number of cases involved leaked information during the merger and acquisition phase of businesses.