BUSINESS

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 56 points or 0.5% but the S&P added only 0.1% to 1339 and the Nasdaq gained 0.

Overnight, The Peoples Bank of China raised interest rates by 25 basis points, taking the one year lending rate to 6.56% and the one year deposit rate to 3.5%.

- Theme park operators starting to lift prices- First easing in competitive pressures since 2009- Move should be positive for earnings- Buy ratings dominate for both Ardent Leisure and Village RoadshowBy Chris ShawOn the Gold Coast, the two dominant theme park operators continue to push value bundle...

The multi-billion-dollar listings of QR National and Westfield Retail Trust on the Australian share market should be ignored in looking what was a weak financial year for public floats.

Queenslanders are spending $6.9m globally to push their state to the forefront in the competitive worldwide incentive travel arena.

Nestlé has confirmed it is in talks about a possible takeover of Chinese confectionery company Hsu Fu Chi.

The national construction industry contracted further in June with solid falls in new orders and activity across the sector. The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association, fell 3.8 points to 35.8 (a reading below 50 indicates a contraction in activity).

Global Markets Briefing from Craig James, CommSec Chief Economist: The US ISM services index eased from 54.6 to 53.3 in June, below forecasts centred on a result near 54.0. While employment rose slightly and prices paid eased, the new orders sub-component also fell.

The US ISM services index eased from 54.6 to 53.3 in June, below forecasts centred on a result near 54.0. While employment rose slightly and prices paid eased, the new orders sub-component also fell.

Here is IG Markets Global Markets Overview: (From Market Analyst Ben Potter) In the US overnight, the major indices finished the session modestly higher after traders shrugged off a weaker start amid largely negative news flow. China raised interest rates by 25 basis points, European banks slumped on contagion fears following the Portuguese rating downgrade and the US Services ISM number came in lower than expected.

Australia has announced it would lift a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia and resume trade with additional safeguards in place to address animal cruelty concerns.

Reports indicate Apple Inc. will be releasing a new MacBook Air model in the next few weeks and the new model will be significantly faster than the $999 currently available in the market.

Google Inc. is facing more patent litigation as it has increased its dominance in the industry, and could spend billions to buy patents or defend itself against litigation. The Palo Alto, California-based company owner of the world's most popular search engine, the most used operating system platform (Android) for smartphones, and potentially a social network (Google+) that could rival Facebook.

Now that Apple has released the gold master for the Mac Lion OS to developers, it is likely that the final product will soon be available for the general public. The Gold Master version is the final build of the OS before the official product release -- which in the case of the Lion will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store, the first OS to do so.

The campaign for carbon pricing have gathered new supporters as the push for the government policy has turned to popularity and gathering of numbers.

The Australian sharemarket is a little lower at lunch, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 0.2 pct or 9.7 pts to 4647.2. Almost all sectors are trading in the red with some modest gains from the miners helping to minimise losses.

Amid the cash rate calm and the now little cost difference between the average fixed term home loan interest rate and the average variable interest rate, deciding which type of loan to choose is even more difficult.

Virgin Australia (ASX: VBA) is collaborating with Renewable Oil Corporation (ROC), Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation (DYMTF) and Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre (FFI CRC) to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel that also has benefits for the Australian farming community and the environment.

As the national broadband network overhauls Australia’s telecommunication industry, so is the largest telco in the country, Telstra Corporation, which announced on Wednesday consolidation on its services and reorganization on the firm’s leadership functions.

Spot gold edged down on Tuesday, under the weight of a stronger dollar as a short squeeze boosted the greenback, and a weak technical picture cast a shadow on gold's short-term outlook.

Hackers hit FoxNews.com's Twitter account to send fake messages that U.S. President Barack Obama had been shot dead at a restaurant in Iowa. Nokia Oyj has cut its smartphone prices in Europe by as much as 15 percent to boost sales. Zynga, maker of "FarmVille," "CityVille" and other games played on Facebook, is aiming to raise $1 billion in an initial public offering.

US factory orders rose by 0.8pct in May, just short of forecasts centred on a gain of 1.0pct. Orders for durable goods rose by 2.1pct.

By Greg PeelThe Dow lost 12 points or 0.1% while the S&P fell 0.1% to 1337 and the Nasdaq added 0.4%.In yesterday's Asian session, ratings agency Moody's warned that having examined Beijing's audit of Chinese local government debt exposures it had potentially found significant discrep...

By Greg PeelAs Australia's economic data have bounced around recently and global issues have created uncertainty, economists have to-ed and fro-ed with their expectations of the timing of another RBA rate rise.

Australia is seen to post modest gains on Wednesday's trading day. Here's a first look at the markets as it opens today:

Out of 39 countries with timely house price statistics for the year to Q1 2011

The Social Network, a film about Mark Zuckerberg's founding of Facebook and the resulting lawsuits, was a worldwide box-office hit last year. With Facebook's 700 million active users and other and the coming of its most serious rival yet, Google+, social networking sites are generating massive traffic. Another movie about a social network would certainly generate interest from audiences around the globe.

The prospect of rising interest rates and taxes, escalating global concerns and uncertainties, the appreciation of the Australian dollar and weak consumer sentiment has led to a decline in business conditions and sentiment in Australia.

The Australian Government plans to announce a price on pollution this weekend as the central element of a comprehensive policy to tackle climate change, cut pollution and drive the transformation of the Australian economy to a clean energy future.