BUSINESS

The main headline from overnight trade was Greece's failure to elect presidential nominee Stavros Dimas in its final attempt. After two failed attempts, yesterday was parliament's last chance to elect him as president before being forced into an early election. Having failed yet again, the country will be headed back to the polls as early as January 25. An election puts all sorts of doubt on the future of the bailout agreement given anti-austerity party Syriza is currently leading the poll...

In US economic data, the Dallas Federal Reserve manufacturing index eased from +10.5 to +4.1 in December.

Fear of Ebola is preventing people from Guinea and other west African countries from getting necessary attention on malaria.

Fears have emerged that Australia's investor visa scheme may be used by corrupt Chinese officials to escape liability.

More Australians are giving unwanted Christmas presents that is why for 2014, the number of such gifts rose to 20.3 million from 14.2 million in 2013.

Listed shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) had been named the most traded stock among retail investors in 2014. The stock split in June allowed small investors to trade more of the company's stocks.

Airlift rescue operations continue on the burning Norman Atlantic off the island of Corfu.

Australian shares surged despite a substantial fall in market activity (volume). The ASX 200 Index extended earlier gains to finish 1.5 per cent firmer by close; finishing at intraday highs.

No Canadians were believed to have been passengers on board the ill-fated AirAsia Flight QZ8501 that went missing on Sunday.

Australian shares are kicking off the holiday shortened trading week firmer, with the ASX 200 Index up 0.8 per cent. This is the first session of trade since last Wednesday and historically the next few weeks are usually quiet for local stocks.

Air Asia Flight QZ 8501 made headlines yesterday when the aircraft went missing en route to Singapore and now rescuers believe that the plane is now on the ocean floor.

Although the fate of the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is still unknown, the fact that it has been gone with no contact for more than 24 hours is an indicator the jet possibly had the same fate of the still missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

In what seems to be a repeat of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, AirAsia Flight QZ8501 remains missing for around 24 hours as nations stepped up offers of help to search for the Singapore-bound jet with 162 people aboard.

Falling oil prices in the past few months have got the producers of the commodity concerned.

US equities continued to drift higher on Friday despite most global markets being closed for Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. In fact, US equities went on to print fresh record highs again with investors happy to continue following the trend. Data was also limited in that time but there continued to be some commentary out of key emerging markets

In US economic data released on Christmas Eve, initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 280,000, their fourth straight week of declines, and below the forecast of 290,000.

Another air tragedy similar to the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight looms over the global aviation industry after an AirAsia plane with 162 people on board went missing on Sunday. The aircraft left a provincial Indonesia city for Singapore and flew over the Java Sea.

A passenger of American Airlines Flight 1140 to Dallas got booted out of the plane because he doesn't want the flight crew greeting him a "Merry Christmas."

Phil Dickson videotaped a FedEx truck spilling Christmas packages along Highway 40 in Colorado. The video has gone viral on YouTube.

The highly controversial movie 'The Interview' will get to be released by some independent theatres in the United States on Christmas Day.

The Australian share market has ended a shortened Christmas Eve session (14:00 AEDT Close) around the best levels of the day following an indifferent start where local investors sniffed at the strong gains on Wall Street overnight. US stocks posted impressive improvements following figures revealed that the final estimate of economic growth for the September quarter showed a 5.0% annualised pace, well above estimates of 4.3%

The Australian share market has started the Christmas Eve session with a modest gains before trading lower. Local investors shrugged their shoulder after taking in the strong gains on Wall Street overnight.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has advised Canadians not to eat prepackaged caramel apples.

Keurig is recalling over 7 million of its single- MINI Plus brewers in the United States and Canada due to burn risks.

Amid concerns about a possible recession in some countries, there is still some positive news for the global economy.

It was another stellar day for US equities with a much better than expected revised GDP reading triggering the gains. Q3 GDP came in at a whopping 5%, revised from a previous estimate of 3.9% and much better than an expected 4.3%. This was the biggest gain since 2003 and this was enough to keep investors encouraged. Equities extended gains on the news with the S&P and Dow at fresh record highs. The S&P hit 2087 and the Dow topped 18,000. The GDP reading also underpinned the greenback as it ralli...

Despite a 2010 expose by Today show that revealed some retailers, including retail giants Gap, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom return used underwear on the shelves, another round of secret monitoring this 2014 caught three retails still engaged in the same unsanitary practice.

In US economic data, the final estimate of economic growth for the September quarter showed a 5.0% annualised pace, above estimates of 4.3% and the fastest pace in 11 years. Chain store sales were up 5.3% in the latest week, up from 4.1% in the prior week. New home sales fell 1.6% to a 438,000 annual pace in November. Personal income rose by 0.4% in November with spending up 0.6%. Home prices rose 0.5% in October to be up 4.5% on the year.

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