BUSINESS

By the end of the day, the ASX 200 (XJO) both finished 0.19% up 10.8 points at 5637.6. US consumer prices rose only 0.1% in July, just below expectations. Housing starts up by 15.7% at 1.093 Million annual rate for July, well above the forecasted 969,000. US shares finished with solid gains, the Dow and S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq up 0.4%. Iron ore and steel prices continue to fall in China, with traders unimpressed by the Chinese government's efforts to boost construction demands.

For the first time ever in the history of the Roman Catholic church, its pontiff, currently Pope Francis, has supported military intervention if only to stop the senseless crusade of the Muslim militant ISIS against Christians in Iraq.

Canada has issued a travel alert warning people going to the Caribbean to protect themselves against the Chikungunya disease now spreading in the region.

The momentum in equities has continued with further gains through European and US trade. It seems investors are still responding to downgraded geopolitical risk, with a further kicker coming from signs of improvement in the US housing market. Heading into the FOMC minutes I thought we'd actually see a bit of caution being exercised, particularly considering the developments from the last meeting where Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser dissented.

In US economic data, both headline and core measures of consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July, just below forecasts. Housing starts rose by 15.7% to a 1.093 million annual rate in July, well above forecasts centred on a result near 969,000. And weekly chain store sales were up 3.7% on a year earlier, down from 4.8% in the previous week.

Russia on Tuesday renewed demands that Ukraine release the records of communications between its air traffic control and the Malaysian Airlines MH17 before it was shot down over its turbulent eastern region. A month after the tragic incident occurred, the Kiev government still has yet to disclose such records.

Chinese budget aircraft carrier Spring Airlines has been slapped with a lawsuit by two men and a woman after the airline rejected them because they were HIV positive.

Liberia's military troops have been given explicit orders to shoot people trying to cross the border from Ebola-afflicted neighbour Sierra Leone.

Another study confirmed Australia's high-quality of life after the city of Melbourne was named on Tuesday by the Economic Intelligence Unit's yearly Liveability Survey as the most liveable city in the world. It is the fourth consecutive year that Melbourne was recognised as the best city in the world where to live.

Coca-Cola is a drink that anyone can not resist, not knowing its effects on health. It is a challenge for parents to let their children minimize drinking it.

The impending release of the iPhone 6 has caused the popularity of Apple's stock to surge as closely watched hedge funds managers "feasted" on the stock. According to Forbes, analysts had observed an increase in the demand for Apple stock.

The winning streak continued with shares hitting fresh six-year highs, rising for a third day and remaining above the key 5600pt level. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improved by a modest 0.1 per cent despite mixed performances from global markets overnight. The US economy expanded at a faster than expected 4 per cent annual pace in the June quarter, while comments by the US central bank relating to inflation has increased the market's expectations of an earlier rate rise. The default of Arge...

European telecommunication companies are on a buying mode, and they are targeting telcos in North and South America.

Three U.S. agencies pledged stricter cooperation to provide communities with more housing choices, make transportation systems more efficient and reliable, and create vibrant neighborhoods that attract business development and jobs while protecting the environment.

Equities extended their gains in overnight trade as investors responded to downgraded geopolitical risk. Russia and Ukraine are reportedly progressing talks to end the conflict, while Iraq is making progress against the militants. The economic calendar was relatively light, but positioning is likely to start gearing up as we head towards the business end of the week. The US dollar will be the main point of focus with the FOMC meeting minutes and Jackson Hole taking centre stage. Any indications ...

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott normally shuns anything that had to do with political acts of nemesis, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. But not for the uranium deal with India, which Mr Abbott is expected to ink an agreement in his next visit to the Asian giant.

As it is, Australia looms to become the biggest export of liquefied natural gas by 2017. On Monday, American oil firm Apache announced that it has discovered an oil field in Australia that is potentially the biggest discovery in the last 30 years.

To help boost seat sales, Malaysia Airlines had offered Australian travel agents doubling of their commission to 11 per cent, The Australian reports. The air carrier, which suffered financially because of the two tragedies involving its Boeing 777 jets within four months, advised the agents that by September all tickets issued in and all travel originating from Australia would enjoy the new commission rate.

Kuwait's regulator suspended on Sunday the trading of shares of listed companies that did not submit their quarterly results. However, despite the action, two of three indices in the Kuwait stock market still posted gains.

The ASX200 enjoyed a flirtation with both buyers and sellers over the course of the first trading day of the week. In early trade the index started with a gain of 16 points before quickly surrendering the improvement. At the lows of the day shortly thereafter the market was up by almost a point. In the late part of the morning buyers once again exerted themselves and the index commenced a rally that took in almost 18 points. The move higher wasn't validated by investor interest with volume on...

The three main groups representing 80,000 Canadian doctors have thumbed down calls of federal government for them to support an upcoming anti-drug campaign. The drive, meant to target young people, had become highly political, they said.

Deviating from the norms to create his own landmark legacies is nothing new with Pope Francis. He has been doing surprises since taking on the leadership of the Roman Catholic church in March 2013. But in his first ever visit to Asia, the pope did more than a surprise when he deviated from his language comfort zone Italian to deliver a speech in English.

Earnings season hits full swing this week, with over 70 ASX-listed companies due to report; the key picks are BHP, WES, FMG, WPL and QBE.

BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) will open a new spin-off company worth $15 billion, with headquarters in Perth. It would be one of the largest publicly listed companies in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) based in Perth according to market capitalisation.

Local shares have finished the week on a solid footing. One of the encouraging aspects of the session was the recovery from a late morning slump. Thereafter the ASX 200 moved on to make new highs for the session. Over the course of the week the index rose 2% recovering the 2.2% that was surrendered in the previous week. Most sectors enjoyed buying support over the course of the day although energy names were being held back on weaker oil prices. World oil prices slumped in the last day reflectin...

The Australian sharemarket is up for the fourth time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising by 0.25 per cent. This takes the gains so far this week to 2.3 per cent; the best week in six months and completely making up for last week's 2.1 per cent slump.

While competitor telcos in the Australian market Optus and Vodafone have suffered hemorrhages in customer numbers, it is the other way for Telstra which reported on Thursday, Aug 14, the addition of one million new subscribers in the past 12 months.

While China has surpassed Canada in terms of sales volume, Canada remains the United States real estate market's top foreign buyer, the National Association of Realtors reported in its 2014 Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is about to make stock market history when it publicly lists in September in New York and raise about $20 billion, expected to be the largest in IPO history.