BUSINESS

Leighton Holdings has won a major contract by Iraq’s South Oil Company, involving the development of two offshore platforms.

Workers at factories run by US multinational JELD-WEN across the country have voted against a new agreement, which they said would see them slide backwards in pay and conditions.

The ongoing labor dispute of Qantas with unions continues to take its toll on the air carrier's operations as it canceled 16 flights on Monday and ground five planes.

The Queensland Government has given MSF Sugar Limited the go-ahead to proceed with a $500 million hotel, marina and resort and residential development at Maryborough north of Brisbane.

Australian borrowers are facing increased costs as the valuations on their properties are coming in lower than anticipated due to the softer real estate market nationwide and a more conservative approach by valuers, according to mortgage broker Loan Market.

By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.comThe G20 finance ministers meeting ended yesterday and (as usual) failed to tell us anything new.

(This story was originally published on October 12th. It has now been repeated to make it available to non-paying members at FNArena and to readers elsewhere).

Persistent weakness in the home finance sector should provide another reason for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut official rates on Melbourne Cup day, according to mortgage broker Loan Market.

Just seven days from today is all we have until we know whether the eurozone debt crisis will be put on a track towards settlement once and for all.

Confidence is back, risk is 'on' again and markets almost blushed with vigour last week, none more than the Aussie dollar which added a large 5.9% or nearly 6 USc in jumping well past parity with the greenback.

BHP Biliton is mulling to acquire Brazilian iron ore producer Ferrous Resources as the Anglo-Australian miner seizes opportunities to scout for low-priced commodities projects brought by the pressing current low valuations of iron ore markets.

Apple and Samsung are taking a timeout in their fierce legal battle over smartphone and tablet patents to pay their last respect to the late Apple co-founder and technology icon Steve Jobs.

Search engine giant and Android maker Google is joining the crowd of online music stores soon.

U.S. stocks jumped Friday, sending major stock indexes to their highest close since early August and pushing both the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite back into positive territory for the year. The Dow industrials closed with a 166.36 point gain, or 1.5%, at 11644.49. The Dow is now ahead by 0.58% for 2011.

US retail sales rose by 1.1pct in September - marking the fastest pace of growth in seven months. Sales for the prior two months was also revised higher. The upbeat sales figures resulted in a revision of third quarter growth estimates. US September quarter GDP is now expected to post between 2.3-2.7pct. US business inventories rose by 0.5pct in August.

Westpac, one of Australia’s four major banks, has invested in a new banking centre in Rocklea.

Australia’s tourism and accommodation industry has voiced worries on the threats it faces as a result of the continuing action by airline unions against Qantas.

Australian customers lined up around Apple stores and other retailers Friday to get the new Apple iPhone 4S, but for budget-conscious consumers, the new smartphone could be too much for their wallets to handle.

Apple has described Siri as an "intelligent assistant" but developers should have added another feature to Siri: budding comedian.

Spain can be joining Greece as one of the unhealthy Euro zone nations if it misses its budget goal this year as a result of sluggish economic growth, excessive spending and increasing unemployment.

Small and medium-sized business firms are expected to allocate more resources and increase spending for digital channels instead of traditional advertising.

A raft of soft data weighed on investor sentiment today, sending local stocks down by almost one percent. Weaker than expected Chinese trade data and disappointing earnings result from US heavyweight JP Morgan Chase sent global markets into the red overnight, while this morning ratings agency S&P downgraded Spain from AA to AA-. Another ratings agency, Fitch, downgraded UBS and seven more financial institutions.

Research in Motion co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie held a phone press conference Thursday to announce that BlackBerry services have been restored globally after several days of network failure.

Incoming head of third party for Suncorp Steven Heavey has vowed the bank’s credit policies and broker processes will go under the microscope when he begins his role.

Over the next 10 years, Australians would do well investing on the share market, which according to new report released on Wednesday by Australia-New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) will be the sure bet of the future.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), the national association which represents the country’s $108 billion food, drink and grocery manufacturing sectors is demanding for additional compensation from government.

Iron ore prices are set to get more competitive in the following months as BHP Billiton, along with other iron ore miners and steel producers, mull the creation of a new iron ore global pricing system by year-end or early 2012.

iPad 2-manufacturer Apple only won half of the battle with Samsung Electronics when it was granted by Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett on Thursday a temporary injunction that stops the South Korean firm from launching the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia.

The Australian sharemarket is pulling back for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 0.9 pct or 39.2 pts to 4266.8. Almost all sectors are lower with the defensive telecommunication sector one of the lone regions of the market to be gaining some ground. Telstra (TSL) is up 0.16 pct or 0.5 cent to $3.08.