BUSINESS

St George Bank assured on Friday its employees that no one would lose their jobs amid reports that the subsidiary of Westpac is planning to outsource 200 IT jobs to IBM.

Australian beef exports may benefit from reports of a mad-cow disease in the U.S., according to the Australian Beef Association. The reported case of mad-cow disease in the U.S. may prompt Japan and South Korea to increase its demand from Australia, said the industry group.

Rio Tinto and Chinalco's listed subsidiary, Chalco, have completed the formation of their joint venture (JV) to develop and operate the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, following the completion of all Chinese regulatory approvals. As a result, a consortium led by Chalco has made an earn-in payment of US$1.35 billion, in line with an agreement reached with Rio Tinto in March 2010.

Apple must train its sight to the East, experts said, if it wishes to sustain its record-breaking results and deflect predictions that the tech titan would falter sooner or later minus the introduction of innovative products, which marked the reign of Steve Jobs.

Australian borrowers gravitated more on securing fixed mortgage packages, according to a new report, because they deem the rates more stable at the moment, with lenders offering more premium with the product.

Atlas Iron and QR National launched on Thursday the $3.5-billion Pilbara railway through the start of a feasibility study to build the 600-kilometre multi-user rail link to transport iron ore from the east and southeast Pilbara to shipment facilities at Port Hedland.

While recent statistics indicate the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would likely cut the overnight cash rate when it meets in May, any rate cut would hardly benefit Australian mortgage customers.

Justice finally caught up with the U.S. subsidiary of Lend Lease Construction, an Australian firm, over a 10-year overbilling fraud. A U.S. court in Brooklyn fined the company $58 million in fines and restitution to victims.

By Greg PeelGiven yesterday's holiday in Australia we've had two overnight sessions since the local market closed.

Robots could soon assume the role of miners but they will not be harvesting minerals from the depths of the earth, instead they will be transported into space, where they will be deployed to explore the hundreds of asteroids that regularly pass near our planet.

A senior United Nations official has said that criminality is one of the biggest economies in the world.

Another month of contraction for Chinese manufacturing, but the chances of so-called soft landing for the economy have been reinforced by the latest flash estimate on sentiment from the sector for April.

HTC, the Taiwanese-based smartphone manufacturer recently announced the release of the newest Android smartphone called HTC One S and many experts are stating that this is one of the best Android smartphones released by the company.

There are countless rumors circulating the web nowadays and this time, it focuses on the supposed release of Apple's iPhone Nano alongside the new iPhone or iPhone 5.

Newcrest Mining again pared down its overall production guidelines for the current financial year following the company's earlier output cutbacks in February, further highlighting the difficulties that hit the miner's global operations.

The Australian share market has managed to shrug off weak offshore leads and fears of a mass sell-down to start the trading day on a positive note. US and European markets slumped overnight, as uncertainty surrounds the future of the French and Dutch governments. The local share market started the trading day on a flat note, defying predictions of a 0.6pct fall and at lunchtime in the East is trading firmer by 903pts or 0.2pct to 4439.6.

Australia's retail sector remains under pressure as reflected by the third quarter results of Wesfarmers' Coles supermarket chains, which slightly moved up but exceeded the general growth forecasts earlier set by the market.

While borrowing an average of $200 a month from family and friends, Australians at the same time have toned down their demand for various types of credit.

Flag carrier Qantas is on an apparent collision course with the New South Wales (NSW) government insofar as the construction of a second Sydney airport is concerned.

By Greg PeelThe market for spot uranium seems destined to reach some sort of meeting of the minds which could result in more solid volumes, but not just yet.

FNArena has added another video to its Investors Education section on the website. The latest video explains why EUR/USD continues to have Jerry Simmons' full attention as the cross is facing key weekly resistance at 1.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 109 points or 0.8% while the S&P lost 0.8% to 1366 and the Nasdaq fell 1.

By Greg PeelBy way of its April monetary policy statement the Reserve Bank of Australia was uncharacteristically candid in basically telling the market a rate cut was on the cards for May as long as the March quarter CPI result didn't surprise to the upside.

A new announcement from Samsung, the Korean-based smartphone manufacturer revealed that the company will be unveiling the Samsung Galaxy S III. The information was first revealed through Samsung's official Twitter account stating: "Destination: tgeltaayehxnx".

The Australian share market has started the trading week on a subdued note, despite gains on US and European markets late last week. At lunchtime in the East, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 11.8pts or 0.3pct to 4432.6.

Markets around the world generally finished higher last week, but they didn't inspire.

Further evidence that Woolworths has lost its way could come tomorrow when rival Coles' third quarter sales figures are released by parent Wesfarmers.

It is going to be yet another busy week for markets here and offshore, even with the holiday Wednesday for Anzac Day.

Spanish universities could raise their tuition fees by as much as 50 percent this year.