BUSINESS

NBN Co has awarded three equipment contracts worth over $1.6 billion to Australian located companies to supply passive network infrastructure to build the national broadband network during the next five years.

The Queensland floods that inundated most of the state and crippled many of its major industries could possibly be the most expensive disaster in the country says Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

The Australian Dollar has opened this morning in the low 0.9900’ s after touching the mid 0.9800’s on Friday’s night trade after the Chinese central bank raised the loan reserve requirement by another 50 bps to 19%, the fourth rise in the last 2 months in a further attempt to cool inflation and the strong property market in the major cities.

The Australian Dollar opens this morning buying 0.9894 US Dollars. The Queensland floods still remain the focus for investors as the cost of the dictator start to weigh in. Insured losses may cost as much as $6 billion for insurers worldwide according to Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer.

U.S. stocks reached their highest closing levels in two and a half years Friday, driven by a rally in the financial sector following stronger-than-expected earnings from J.P. Morgan Chase.

The US consumer price index rose 0.5pct in December, ahead of forecasts centred on a rise of 0.4pct. The core rate (excludes food and energy) rose 0.1pct. Retail sales rose 0.6pct in December, below forecasts tipping a rise of 0.8pct.

The already weak Brisbane property market will take further beating as houses are expected to be taken out of the market completely and prices start plummeting.

Australia's largest supermarket chain Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) says delivery of food into Queensland supermarkets continues to be challenging and it could take weeks before stock levels return to normal in many stores.

Wesfarmers’ (ASX: WES) Coles supermarket says it is working to get food back on the shelves of its 150 Queensland branches affected by the devastating floods, especially the 50 stores isolated by flood waters.

Colonial First State Property Retail Pty Ltd, manager of CFS Retail Property Trust said none of its Queensland shopping centres has experienced material damage and each is fully insured for loss of rental income and flood damage.

Goodman Fielder Ltd (ASX:GFF), Australasia's largest food manufacturer, says its facilities have avoided damage from the floods in Queensland and New South Wales.

Australian national carrier Qantas Airways (ASX: QAN) says it had reached a settlement, subject to court approval, to resolve its liability under a class action in the United States.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SIP), which is selling its generic drugs unit to South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare, says revenues will be negatively affected by changes in government pricing of generic medicines.

Discount variety store, the Reject Shop, has confirmed that its profit may be lower than forecast due to waters in Ipswich flooding their main distribution center.

The Australian dollar rose after hitting parity overnight as the US dollar went down, burdened by the worse than expected US unemployment report.

Local stocks are trading relatively unchanged today, following a strong performance yesterday.

Australian energy firm Santos along with its joint-venture partners have committed to investing $16 billion into the Queensland economy in the coming five years through the Gladstone gas project.

Australian banks are offering emergency relief packages to customers impacted by the floods in NSW and Queensland and other areas.

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has declared force majeure on supplies of aluminium from its Boyne smelting division in Australia's Queensland state due to severe flooding.

World's leading and most diverse derivatives market place CME Group Inc., has announced the completion of the refinancing of its three-year revolving credit and term loan agreement with an original maturity date of August 2011.

Midway Market Neutral Fund returned an estimated 3.25% in December, net of fees and expenses. This brings our unaudited 2010 net return to 53.47%. This was a particularly successful year for Midway's investors. While we are indeed pleased with this absolute return, we are even more pleased knowing that it was produced with a low relative risk profile.

Mr Kim Wong, former Managing Director of Wintech Group Limited (Wintech), has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court after his arrest on nine criminal charges following an ASIC investigation.

The Australian dollar has opened higher today, as the USD weakened on the back of a worse than expected US Labour report released overnight.

The health care sector led U.S. stocks lower Thursday, after Merck halted a clinical study, but successful bond auctions in Spain and Italy helped shore up sentiment.

The Australian Dollar declined from 0.9960 to 0.9920 against the US Dollar yesterday after the release locally of the Unemployment and Participation Rate.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke anticipates that the US economy should grow in the 3-4pct range over 2011, however growth of this magnitude is ´´not going to reduce unemployment at the pace´´ he would like to see.

The local share market rose to its highest level in two weeks, posting its best win for 2011 today, on the back of a strong offshore lead and hopes the worst of the Queensland flooding has now passed.

The Australian stock market posted its strongest day in six weeks, with investor sentiment buoyed by offshore news and a lower than expected flood peak in Brisbane.

The announcement made today by Santos Ltd. on the approval of the US$16 billion Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas Project (GLNG) in Queensland, Australia will lead to the creation of 6,000 jobs in the short to medium term as seen by politicians.