BUSINESS

The Australian share market opened the session with a solid gain for the second consecutive session on the Thursday. The strong tone for the first half of the session came in the wake of similar gains for US and European markets in the last 12 hours. US share markets rallied sharply after the Federal Reserve gave a strong signal that it was on track to raise interest rates at some point next year - pointing to confidence in the US economy. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones was up by 288 point...

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The Russian currency, ruble, has been falling sharply. The depreciating currency has prompted the government and the central bank to take measures.

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US equities surged on the back of the Fed meeting, which seems to have hit a sweet spot as far as balancing expectations is concerned.

In US economic data, consumer prices fell 0.3% in November - marking the largest decline since December 2008. Annual growth eased from 1.7% to 1.3%. The fall in gasoline prices (down 6.6% in November) was the biggest driver. Core CPI (ex food and energy) lifted up 0.1% in November to be up 1.7 over the year. US current account deficit rose from $98.42 billion to $100.36 billion in the September quarter.

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The Australian share market has ended a 6 session losing streak on Thursday with a gain of 9.6 points. The ASX 200 trade through a range of 41 points from low to high. The market was down 2 points at its worst levels and up 39 points at its best.

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Buyers have made a rare impression on the ASX 200 in early trade on Wednesday. After 6 consecutive sessions of losses the share market has spent the morning in positive territory, having opened with a small loss of 2 points, before moving on to a gain of 33 points at session highs. As lunchtime approached the ASX 200 was ahead by 32 points.

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The Australian Dollar is unchanged from this time yesterday, having given back some overnight gains as volatility increases in global markets.

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Equities rebounded in European trade whilst US equities struggled as investors exercised caution heading into the FOMC meeting. Additionally, oil prices remained extremely volatile, with weakness prevailing. In Europe, traders focused on surprisingly firmer manufacturing and services PMIs, along with a vast improvement in the ZEW economic sentiment readings.

In US economic data, housing starts fell by 1.6% in November to a 1.028 million unit pace. Building permits fell by 5.2% in November. Despite the mild pullback the housing sector continues to see healthy improvement. The Markit Flash PMI eased from 54.8 to 53.7 in December - a 11 month low. A reading above 50 still signalled an expansion in activity. Across the sub-indices output and employment expanded at a slower pace.

Losses worsened this afternoon with Australian shares falling by 0.7 per cent and closing at a fresh two-month lows in the process. The ASX 200 Index lost 0.7 per cent with both mining and energy industries slumping by around 2 per cent.

Australian shares are falling for the sixth straight session and trading at two month lows. The ASX 200 Index is down 0.5 per cent with the energy and mining sectors continuing to be the main liabilities.

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Australia has traditionally been dependent on the mining industry and falling iron ore prices may affect the budget.

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Equities tapered off in the US and tracked weakness seen in Asian and European trade. Turmoil in the energy space continued to cloud positive developments on the US economic data front.

In US economic data, industrial production rose by 1.3% in November after advancing by 0.1% in October - marking the largest rise since May 2010. Capacity utilisation rose from 79.3 to 80.1 - the highest reading since March. The New York Fed Empire State index fell from +10.16 to -3.58 in December - the first negative result in almost a year. US NAHB Housing Market Index eased from 58 to 57 in December - highlighting that home builder sentiment remained relatively optimistic.

The strength of New Zealand property market is that it has no restrictive policy that may repel foreign buyers.