BUSINESS

In US economic data, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index rose by 0.6% in November after a similar lift in October. The index is up 6.1% on a year ago. The Philadelphia Fed Index fell from the outsized 40.8 gain in November to 24.5 in December. US jobless claims fell from 295,000 to 289,000 in the past week.

Air Canada needed to divert a flight from London to Toronto because of an unruly female South African passenger.

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It's not really a very high-tech product, but the selfie stick is tipped to become the top-selling Christmas gift of 2014 in Australia, retail experts said, beating other electronic gadgets such as fitness wristbands, cameras and game consoles.

The local sharemarket has finished firmly in the black, following a strong lead from European and US markets. The S&P 500 enjoyed its best one day gain in a year, after the US Federal Reserve signalled it was on track to raise interest rates next year - reinforcing the strength of the US economy. That positive lead helped the All Ords finish up 1 percent to 5,189.

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.

The Australian Dollar has dipped suddenly to USD 0.8120 following headlines the FOMC had dropped the "considerable time" phrase with respect to its guidance on interest rates, and instead deciding it could be "patient in beginning to normalise" policy.

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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Russian Ruble fluctuation has caused Apple to shut its online store specific to Russian market.

Very high oil prices may be bad for the global economy, but too low prices of the commodity may also negatively impact markets.

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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.

It's the end of the year, a busy season for doomsayers and hoaxers. This explains why everyone is talking either about World War 3 to be initiated by Russia or writing hoax articles.

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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