BUSINESS

Queensland's banana industry is recovering after the Australian state was flooded in summer. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh forecast lower banana prices in the coming weeks from the peak of $15 a kilogramme due to expected bumper harvest from North Queensland.

The Mongolian government is seeking to increase its stake allocation in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project from 34% to 50%, leaving its developers rethinking if it was a good deal at all to have initiated the project.

- Kathmandu result solid given tough conditions- Earnings growth to be driven by new stores, refurbishments- Stock seen as offering value at current levels- Buy ratings continue to dominateBy Chris ShawRetail conditions have been tough for some time, so the fact Kathmandu Holdings ((KMD)) delivered ...

- Disconnect between equity and physical commodity markets- Some evidence bulk commodity markets are close to cracking- An assessment of potential Oz economic downside- MD departure signals issues at NexusBy Chris ShawRecent equity market moves imply both spot commodity prices and future expectation...

Led by gold and copper, commodity prices fell to nine month lows last week, thanks to the sell-off on Thursday and Friday across the globe.

Payment networks Visa and MasterCard will impose the highest fees for even the smallest debit transaction for cards issued by JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup as allowed by a U.S. law that put caps on such fees.

Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comWhat a week. The race to the bottom between the majors is well and truly on and right now Europe is winning a race that a no one wants to win.

Finance ministers and central bank officials from G20 countries said that they would take all actions to address problems in the global financial system: ´´We commit to take all necessary actions to preserve the stability of banking systems and financial markets as required.´´

While the iPhone 5 will be the center of everyone's attention, note that according to Antoine Saint Exupery, what's essential is invisible to the eye. Aside from betting that the iPhone 5 won't have radical changes, you should think outside the box when comprehending what happens on Oct. 4 and thereafter.

UK online brand ASOS had launched its first site ASOS exclusively for the electronic shopping savvy Australians beginning on Sept. 15.

South Korea President Lee Myung-bak announced on Friday of the government's plan to invest $90 million reviving its stem cell research next year aiming for a "core new growth engine" after the industry suffered a setback for more than a year.

As Japan struggles with its soaring yen, a series of catastrophes and a plummeting domestic business market, thousands of Japanese citizens are spending a fortune to enhance their English communications skills, which they believe is the key factor in retaining or earning a job opportunity, Reuters reported.

Brisbane’s commercial market is rebounding quickly as demand for office space continues to be led by increased business activity from the resources sector.

New research from mortgage provider RAMS Home Loans show first home buyers in Australia aren't overly concerned about foreign investor competition in the property market. Despite talk of overseas investment into the Australian property market, local buyers say they are not worried.

Good or bad news, it could still be good news. While most are on the edge awaiting for final developments as to how low the Aussie dollar can go, some are just most happy they have taken advantage of its worth months ago.

The iPad will continue to dominate its rivals until 2014 according to a new report from the research firm Gartner.Apple's iPad will account for 73.4% of tablet sales worldwide and will hold that market dominance for years to come, said Gartner. Bad news for other tablet makers, the analysts also say that no other platform besides Android will have more than a 5% share of the tablet market during this time.

The euro made a comeback after five consecutive days of shortfalls against the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen and reduced its decline to just above 2 percent since Sept. 16 on Thursday.

George Soros said, "If the crisis is controlled, the German voting public will force austerity on the rest of Europe, pushing the entire region into recession and ultimately into a depression."

Unlike its American counterpart, the Australian economy has been characterised by fiscal policies that fostered resiliency and stability, which according to Standards and Poor’s, led to an overall healthy financial environment in the country, notwithstanding the presence of global pressures.

Deposits flowed out of China's four major state-owned banks as high inflation and low interest rates prompted savers to cash their money in the private lending market for better returns.

China is headed for a slowdown and may not be able to pull the world out of its economic rut, projections from the International Monetary Fund and a drop in HSBC's purchasing managers' index indicate.

It was a similar experience for the stock market in Toronto as the major stock index went down by more than 3 percent on Thursday, the lowest level since 2010.

It seems like Apple's legal troubles are far from being resolved. Apple is now being sued by Taiwan's Via Technologies Inc. for patent infringement.

Lumped together the pay checks collected by the top executives of BHP Billiton, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Coles for financial year 2010-2011 alone and you’ll get more than $43 million, which is more than enough for an average Australian to last a lifetime.

Fearing a global fall into recession, copper investors liquidated their assets Thursday, forcing copper futures to drop by more than 7 percent to their lowest levels in a year at $3.48 a pound.

The federal government stamped its environmental approval on the Chevron-led Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that experts said would lead to billion-dollars of investments but could disrupt the marine eco-system off the coast of Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

China and Tanzania are set to work on a $3-billion coal and iron ore construction partnership that will develop the Mchuchuma coal and Liganga iron ore projects in Southern Tanzania.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) lost in a court case the regulator filed against search engine giant Google. ACCC complained that Google violated Australia's trade practices law by its using advertisement placements as basis for ranking of search results.

Four years after Australia’ competition watchdog labelled its search results as confusing and misleading, giant internet firm Google won the nod of the court, which declared on Thursday that the company hardly violated any provisions in the country’s consumer law.