BUSINESS

Thursday saw the ASX make another near six year intra-day and closing high, as trading in the blue chips continued to push the market to levels not seen since mid-2008.

In US economic data, the ´´flash´´ services index fell from 55.3 to 54.2 in April. The composite purchasing managers index eased from 55.7 to 54.9 in April. But consumer sentiment rose from 82.6 to a 9-month high of 84.1 in April, ahead of forecasts centred on a result near 83.0.

In the last Labor-led government, industries had to pay $24 per tonne carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Under Abbott administration, the government would instead pay Australia's heavy industries $2.5 billion to reduce their carbon emissions to meet the federal government's target of 5 per cent reduction or 421 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020.

Apple Inc. has beaten analysts' expectations and its own guidance by earning $45.6 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the calendar year and the second quarter of the fiscal year.

The buying spree continued on the final day of the shortened trading week, with Australian stocks once again closing at their best levels in almost six years.

The Australian share market continues to trade at near six year highs in the early session, despite a negative lead from Wall Street. Investor sentiment has been boosted however by strong earnings reports from Facebook and Apple in the US, after the bell, which has sent both companies' share prices higher in after-hours trade.

Activist investor Carl Icahn says that Apple Inc is undervalued and admitted of not selling a single share of Apple Inc

Gas prices in New South Wales are set to increase by 17.6 per cent effective July 1, making typical NSW households' gas bills jump between $150 and $225 annually.

Le's talk about women empowerment. Being the highest ranking woman on Facebook, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg speaks out her stand on the importance of women to occupy the other half of making business decisions.

The equity rally we've been seeing in the US finally came to a halt on the back of mixed earnings and some disappointing economic data. The US flash manufacturing PMI and new home sales both missed estimates and contributed to dampening sentiment. While earnings weren't great in US trade, after hours trade has seen some monster results from tech giants Apple and Facebook. In fact, US futures are up 0.6% in after-hours trade and this is likely to also translate to good gains in Asia.

In US economic data, new home sales fell by 14.5% to a 384,000 annual rate in March, an 8-month low and below the market expectation for a result near 450,000. The Markit manufacturing index eased from 55.5 to 55.4 in April, below forecasts for a result near 56.0.

A TripBarometer survey by travel site TripAdvisor among 50,000 people from different countries named Australia and Italy as their top dream destinations with the two nations tied for first place.

Although Filipinos are found in 200 countries, the United States remains a land of milk and honey for many of them. Thus, when a news report came out that the State Department announced on Monday of a new policy that could be life changing for Philippine residents, many were happy.

The Australian sharemarket maintained most of its gains this afternoon to close near six-year highs and improve for the fifth straight day. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed above the 5,500 point mark for the first time in 2014, with the XAO rising by 0.64 per cent to 5502.2.

It has been speculated that Apple is going to have a partnership with Nike.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the fifth day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 0.5 per cent. A little earlier, the All Ords was trading above the 5500pt mark for only the second time this calendar year.

Apple Inc Q2 FY14 is scheduled on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET

The lucrative Mt Everest climbing season about to start in mid-May has been cast into doubt as sherpa guides united on Tuesday to abandon 2014's climbing activity following the death of 16 comrades by an avalanche on Friday.

Apple is set to roll out two iPhone models in 2014. The company will have a 4.7-inch screen and the other will have a 5.5-inch display, as claimed by earlier reports.

Singapore Airlines announced on Tuesday it has made necessary reductions in its Airbus A380 flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

Nokia has announced in a press release the company will wrap up its $7.9 billion deal with Microsoft on April 25.

The light Easter trading continued in Europe and the US overnight. The Easter mergers and acquisitions dance also continued as drug maker GSK traded its cancer division to Swiss competitor Novartis.

In US economic data, existing home sales fell by just 0.2% to a 4.59 million annual rate in March, above forecasts for a result near 4.55m. The FHFA home price index rose by 0.6% in February to stand 6.9% higher than a year ago. The Richmond Federal Reserve index rose from minus 7 to +7 in April.

The rising new Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, promises not just to be an architectural landmark with its unique UFO-shaped design, but also a showcase of green technology.

The Adobe Flash Player is the touchstone for rich, salient and high-impact web content. Designs, graphics, animations, and user interfaces are deployed immediately across all browsers and platforms, guaranteeing rich and seamless virtual experience. For high quality video streaming, Adobe's Flash Player versions are the golden standard in the blogosphere.

A day before Apple is due to reveal its earnings report for Q2 FY 2014, Fortune magazine has compiled the company's predictions from 37 analysts.

The Australian share market rose in thin trading volumes on the first day of the shortened trading week. Markets were closed yesterday for the Easter Monday holiday and will be shut again on Friday for Anzac Day.

Tactus Technology, a start-up company, is making waves in the tech industry with its latest accessory constructing transparent keyboard buttons on top of any touchscreen display.

Concerns over "production practices" had prompted Health Canada to issue a recall notice against a British Columbia supplier of medical marijuana. The specific pot is Purple Kush, Batch PK-10-20-13, manufactured by Greenleaf Medicinals that is based in Nanaimo.