BUSINESS

The mysterious disappearance of one commercial airliner four months ago, plus the three successive crash accidents in just the past week has definitely taken its toll on the jittery global aviation industry. On Wednesday, the British Armed Forces scrambled two of its Royal Air Force aircraft after air controllers lost contact with a private plane. London's military presumably believed the plane had been compromised.

Pope Francis was every inch visibly moved when he met on Thursday Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith even as a death sentence loomed over her head.

Has the world reached the purging stage as precursor to the prophesied end of times? In just a span of seven days, some 500 lives were lost from around the world due to three aviation accidents, the latest of which is the Air Algerie flight AH5017.

While equities continue to extend their gains, sentiment appears to be a bit mixed as the major currency pairs maintain some tight ranges. While there were a few developments overnight, the dominant theme remained US corporate earnings and optimism around an improving global manufacturing picture. US unemployment claims came in at the lowest since February 2006 and this saw the four-week average drop to around 300,000. This is a good sign heading into next week's non-farm payrolls data. With ...

US economic data: New home sales fell by 8.1% in June - the biggest decline in almost a year. US jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 284,000 - the lowest level in nearly 8½-years. US Flash PMI fell from 57.3 to 56.3 in July, below analyst expectations for a reading of 57.5.

The planned initial public offering (IPO) of Healthscope is expected to raise for the second-largest hospital operator in Australia $2.12 billion with private equity giants TPG Capital Management and Carlyle Group reportedly pricing the shares at $1.98, the upper end of the target range, Reuters reported.

The $530-billion Saudi Arabia stock exchange plans to open its doors to foreign investors for the first time in 2015. The move aims to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil revenue and bring in more international investments.

The Australian market closed higher again today boosted by the better than expected "Flash" Chinese manufacturing data for July. The HSBC China flash Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMI) for July hit a 18month high up 52.0 boosted by new orders up from 50.7 points in June and better than the BLOOMBERG market survey expected of 51.0.

The U.S.' Federal Aviation Administration has lifted a ban that barred U.S. airlines from traveling to and from Ben Gurion International Airport. The new directive took effect as of 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Australian market opened stronger today as expected and by lunch the market had been boosted by the better than expected "Flash" Chinese manufacturing data for July. The HSBC China flash Purchasing Managers' Indexes (PMI) for July hit a 18month high up 52.0 boosted by new orders up from 50.7 points in June and better than the BLOOMBERG market survey expected of 51.0.

The New Zealand dollar fell to its six-week low against the U.S. dollar after the Reserve Bank governor, Graeme Wheeler, said the strength of the Kiwi was "unjustified." This paved the way for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to intervene in the currency exchange market.

At least 32,000 people in Taiwan were left without power supply after typhoon Matmo pummeled the east Asian country. Matmo has likewise made landfall in China, the country's second weather disturbance within a week.

Yahoo!, which owns a 24% stake in Alibaba, said that the Chinese e-commerce giant that is launching an initial public offering (IPO) sometime in August has agreed to the tech firm's request to reduce the maximum number of shares it sells in the launch to 140 million from the initial plan of 208 million.

It was another positive night for equities, with gains through European and US trade mainly driven by optimism around US corporate earnings. Geopolitical risk was largely ignored yet again with traders favouring equities.

It is not only Australians who would be affected by the cuts made in Radio Australia's budget, but also residents of nearby Pacific isles who rely on the broadcaster for weather updates.

IMF released updated US growth forecasts. US growth forecasts for 2014 were lowered from 2% to 1.7%. 2015 growth forecasts were kept at 3% - which would be the fastest expansion since 2005. The IMF believes the Fed can keep policy rates at zero for longer than mid-2015 if inflation stays subdued.

Three of the big four banks in Australia cut their fixed interest rates on Wednesday to below 5 per cent as part of a rate war among the lenders. The rate war provides borrowers the opportunity to enjoy record-low interest rates on the long term.

Today was a solid day for the markets and investors at last we saw the market putting some good ruins on the board and the ASX 200 hit a new 6 year high. The market was boosted by positive quarterly numbers from BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) and a strong rally into bank, insurance and transport stocks.By the end of trade the All Ordinaries Index had added 33 points and the ASX up 0.6% to 5576.7 points. The market trading volume increased today to 2.3Billion shares and all sectors closed higher.

The consensus in the global aviation industry is that embattled Malaysian Airlines is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. With two major air mishaps that could create a minimum $80 million hole in the Kuala Lumpur-based company's shaky finances, it would not be a surprise to hear the air carrier announcing its closure soon.

Major U.S. airlines suspended their flights to Israel on Tuesday, July 22 after a rocket attack on the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

After a solid session on Wall Street the Australian market opened higher. Our market boosted by positive quarterly numbers from BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) and money going back into the banking sector.

Travelers going in and outside of China are being advised to brace for potential delays and worst, flight cancellations in the next three to four weeks. The country's People's Liberation Army is currently conducting military drills over the East China Sea, thus imposing "air traffic restrictions."

Two tech world giants, Apple and IBM recently decided to partner up on a project and expand their market.

Five days after the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 over eastern Ukraine, leaders of the European Union finally met on Tuesday to deliberate sanctions against Russia. They agreed imposing travel bans against high-ranking Russian government officials as well as mounting a new round of asset freezes.

The fruits peaches, plouts, nectarines, and plums which come from California were being recalled in the United States and Canada for possible contamination of bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes.

A restructuring plan meant to be announced in 2015 to save the embattled Malaysia Airlines could be already revealed this August.

Apple Inc has released its official Q3 earnings report after the end of market trading on July 22. The company posted profits of $7.7 billion from a $37.4 billion in revenues. Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in the earnings release that the company's record June quarter was due to the strong sales performance of the iPhone, Mac and continuous growth of the iOS ecosystem.

Global macro concerns may have outweighed trading yesterday due to light reporting; however out of the 36 individual companies that reported to the market, 79% beat expectations, meaning bottom-up actuals outpaced the global gloom being generated by geopolitics.

In US economic data existing home sales rose for the third consecutive month in June, up 2.6% to an annual rate of 5.04 million - an eight month high. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in June to be up 2.1% over the year. Gasoline accounted for two-thirds of the gain lifting by 3.3% in June. Stripping out food & energy prices, core CPI rose by a tame 0.1% in June to be up 1.9% on year ago.