BUSINESS

More news
Dollar notes

Australian Dollar Outlook – December 9, 2014

More pressure for the Australian Dollar as China, Australia's largest trade partner, showed a surprise fall in imports, pushing the trade surplus to a record USD 54.47 billion and oil prices continued to slide.
An investor looks at information displayed on an electronic screen at a brokerage house in Shanghai, December 8, 2014. Asian stocks eked out gains on Monday in wake of much stronger-than-expected U.S. employment numbers, although sobering data highlighted

Global Markets Overview – December 9, 2014

Gains from Friday's jobs numbers were short lived as renewed global growth concerns and declining oil prices came back to haunt global markets. Yesterday's disappointing Japan GDP and China trade balance set off the global growth alarm bells once again.
n office worker walks past an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) window showing the main losses for the day in central Sydney July 23, 2012. Australian shares slumped 1.7 percent on Monday, the biggest one-day fall in seven weeks, as investors fled from

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday December 8, 2014

Local stocks have started the second week of December on a strong footing. The ASX 200 opened flat, although buyers were waiting in the wings and the market was well supported over the course of the morning. The upward momentum for the market ebbed when the index hit the 5380 but prices remained well supported around these levels into the afternoon.
Men load pieces of steel at a steel factory in Chau Khe village, outside Hanoi December 4, 2014. The World Bank said on Wednesday it has revised its forecast for Vietnam's economic growth this year to 5.6 percent from 5.4 percent previously, after the gov

Global Markets Overview – December 8, 2014

The US dollar has been broadly bid higher as investors react to Friday's jobs numbers. The November payrolls reading showed 321,000 jobs were created and average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, while the unemployment rate was steady at 5.8%. This was the highest number of jobs created in nearly three years and was also accompanied by upward revisions to the previous two months. Heading into next week's Fed meeting, this jobs report is only fuelling the case for the hawks.
Staff walk in front of the Opel Plant during a shift change on its final day of production in Bochum December 5, 2014. European carmaker Opel closed its Bochum plant on Friday.

Australian Stock Market Report – Morning December 8, 2014

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 321,000 in November, well above forecasts of job gains of 230,000 and the strongest increase in jobs in almost three years. The jobless rate was unchanged at 5.8% and hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in the month, above forecasts for a 0.2% gain. The trade deficit narrowed from a revised US$43.6 billion deficit to US$43.4bn deficit in October.
Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad talks to reporters at the conclusion of a conference on Yemen's industrial investment potential in the south-eastern Yemeni port city of Mukalla December 23, 2008.

Former PM Says Malaysians Are ‘Too Stupid’ To Run Airline

Kazanah Nasional Berhad, the majority state-owned company that operates the embattled Malaysia Airlines announced on Saturday the appointment of Christopher R Mueller as chief executive airline. His designation aims to boost the business of the air carrier that suffered from two major air tragedies in 2014.
A worker walks at the Nahr Bin Umar field, north of Basra, southeast of Baghdad, November 16, 2014. OPEC producer Iraq expects to base its 2015 budget on an oil price of $80 per barrel, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi told parliament on Monday. Picture take

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday December 5, 2014

A flat start for local shares on Friday has given way to broad selling for the ASX 200. At the best levels of the session the AS 200 was ahead by almost 21 points. However at lunchtime the market was around session lows with a loss of 26 points or 0.5%. The was no clear direction offered by US and European markets overnight.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi leaves after addressing an ECB news conference December 4, 2014, for the first time in the ECB's new 1.3 billion euro headquarters in Frankfurt. Draghi said on Thursday the bank would reassess the impact

Global Markets Overview – December 5, 2014

2015 will remain a year of mass monetary accommodation; what will change is where the money printing and record low rates will come from. The ECB is clearly gearing up for a broad-ranging stimulus package in 2015. ECB President Mario Draghi stated clearly that the Board 'won't tolerate' low inflation and announced that officials had discussed all measures barring gold to support the economy at last night's meeting. It will allot another round to its current corporate bond buying prog...
A man is reflected as he walks past the Australian Securities Exchange building in central Sydney April 8, 2011. Singapore Exchange Ltd has terminated its $8 billion bid for Australia's ASX Ltd after the Australian government formally rejected the offer o

Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon December 4, 2014

The ASX 200 spent the afternoon consolidating having reached session highs in the latter part of morning trade. Materials and Industrial stocks were the best improved sectors and investors gave the defensive utilities sector a wide berth which saw that group lagging the most.
An office worker is reflected in the window of the Australian Securities Exchange building displaying the ASX50 curve for Wednesday in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Australian shares skidded 1.3 percent on Wednesday, its biggest fall in five weeks, hit b

Australian Stock Market Report – Midday December 4, 2014

Early trade on Thursday has seen local shares continue to build on the gains of recent sessions. The ASX 200 opened the day with a gain of 5 points before pushing on to the best levels of the morning when the market was ahead by 52 pts. Investors have been encouraged by the positive tone of US economic news released over night. European shares were generally higher on Wednesday on hopes that the European Central Bank would inject more stimulus into the economy on Thursday. The FTSEurofirst 300 i...
US Dollars

Australian Dollar Outlook – December 4, 2014

The Australian Dollar is lower after yesterday's weaker-than-expected GDP data from around 0.8460 to 0.8400 and after some intra-session variation overnight, that's about where it sits this morning.
A man is silhouetted in front of a Bank of China's logo at its branch office in Beijing July 14, 2014. China's central bank is looking into allegations by a state broadcaster that Bank of China, the country's fourth largest lender, has been laundering mon

Global Markets Overview – December 4, 2014

In a slight surprise this week, the PBoC did not use the reverse-repo operation to drain the excess liquidity in the market. Most had forecast this would take place considering the fiscal policy changes currently underway. To my eye, this signals intent that 2015 will be a growth supporting year; interest rate cuts, reserve requirement ratios and further disbursements will be a theme from China in 2015.

Pages