BUSINESS

Australia's economy is back on a growth path after it registered a 1.1 per cent gross domestic products (GDP) growth rate for the first quarter of 2013, The Australian reports.

New Zealand experts have warned the Australian government to not follow the island nation's welfare system. The Kiwi economists said New Zealand's welfare cuts have created "big holes" as the country is dealing with child poverty.

Apple Inc. revised its set of App Store Review Guidelines opening its door to virtual currencies

Microsoft said that it was planning to bring back the classic 'Start Menu' at its developer conference in April. However, the tech giant did not confirm the official date. Now it was being speculated that, an update to Windows 8.1 scheduled for August 2014 will bring this classic menu back to Windows OS.

US equities were flat overnight, with investors non-committal heading into the business end of the week. The S&P had to come from behind and even managed to test an intraday record high before a minor pullback into the close. With US economic data starting to ramp up, beginning with the ADP non-farm payrolls, trade balance and the GDP reading, some investors feel this warrants a bit of caution. The market certainly seems to be pricing in a strong set of data from the US this week, which puts ris...

In US economic data, factory orders rose by 0.7% in April, above the forecast 0.5% gain. Chain store sales in the latest week were up 3.5% on a year earlier, up from 3.2% in the previous week. And the ISM New York index rose from 627.4 to 630.1 in May.

Australian air carrier Regional Express (Rex) was named on Monday the best performing airline in the country during the Aviation Week and Space Technology's yearly Top Performing Airlines awards.

The losses steadily accelerated today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finishing close to the lows of the day; down 0.7 per cent to 5460.5. Worse than expected Chinese date and softer than forecast retail spending numbers kept investors uninspired.

Apple unveiled its HealthKit among other things during the keynote address of the 25th Anniversary of Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) at Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco, California.

Apple's 25th Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) unveiled OS 10 Yosemite, iCloud Drive, iOS 8, HealthKit, CloudKit, and HomeKit, and Swift Programming Language during Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook's keynote address.

A study by the Met Office and Newcastle University published in the Nature and Climate Change journal has revealed how global warming and climate change will most definitely impact the occurrence of summer downpours and flash flooding in Britain.

The Australian share market is slightly weaker at lunchtime in the East, despite positive offshore gains. Yesterday the Australian share market gained 0.5 per cent.

Apple Inc launches a new and redesigned OS X – the OS X Yosemite

Apple Inc. releases iOS 8 SDK in its Worldwide Developers Conference

Apple Inc. unveils iOS 8, pinned as the biggest release since the App Store

US equities printed a record high yet again, but this time with not quite as much conviction as we've seen in recent sessions. Meanwhile, a shocking German CPI print kept the stimulus camp happy in Europe, especially after the ECB flagged inflation as one of its key concerns. Data out of the US was quite encouraging with the final manufacturing PMI print mildly ahead of consensus, while the ISM manufacturing PMI was relatively in-line with consensus. There was a bit of drama with the ISM prin...

In US economic data, the ISM manufacturing reading was initially released showing an unexpected dip from 54.9 to 53.2 in May. However according to multiple reports, ISM corrected itself by saying manufacturing activity actually improved to 55.4 in May. That helped ease concerns about the economy, and the Dow Jones industrial average quickly climbed back into positive territory on the altered result. US construction spending rose by 0.2% in April.

As Apple Inc.'s Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) nears, many expect the company to fight back with software amid threats of growing competition shrinking its market share.

Local stocks managed to rise for the first time in three sessions. Promising Chinese data on Sunday and a better end to the week across U.S. markets acted as catalysts. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by just shy of 0.5 per cent, closing near the highest level of the day.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek claims that Apple Inc. is working on a foldable iPhone to iPad mini hybrid in time for WWDC announcement

Ash clouds that erupted from Indonesia's Sangeang Api volcano have dissipated to safe levels, enabling Australian airliners to resume flights to Bali on Monday.

Activist Carl Icahn denies being investigated on insider trading with Phil Mickelson and William Walters

Despite a weaker start the Australian sharemarket is creeping higher at lunch. Better than expected Chinese data out yesterday together with a firmer end to the week in the U.S. are helping local stocks. The market is being held back most by the miners, with continued weakness in the iron ore price pushing the sector lower.

Health Canada is currently groping with a pile of applications for licences to grow medical marijuana in the country. Even junior mining firms have joined the fray.

Over 12,000 requests have poured out within 24 hours after Google launched the "right to be forgotten" campaign.

Canadian commuters of GO transit buses have been advised to brace for public transport chaos as the passenger line mulls pushing through its strike threat this midnight. Nearly 53,000 people are believed to be affected by the travel mayhem.

Google, in compliance to a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) that allows the Europeans' right to be forgotten on the Internet, has created a Web site that will specifically handle such removal requests. On the very first day it was launched, the world's No. 1 Internet search company received a whopping 12,000 removal requests.

US equities extended their gains on Friday, with the S&P printing yet another record high of 1924. Once again the S&P closed at the highs of the session and this is a positive sign heading into the new week. There are plenty of key events on the economic calendar this week that could really set up equities for solid gains. Firstly, we've already seen positive signs from China's manufacturing PMI reading. We also have the ECB policy decision, which is widely tipped to deliver stimulus. Whil...

In US economic data, personal income rose by 0.3% in April, in line with forecasts. But consumption fell by 0.1%, short of forecasts tipping a 0.2% increase. The Chicago purchasing managers index rose from 63.0 to 65.5 in May, above the median forecast of 61.0. Consumer sentiment rose from 81.8 to 81.9 in May, short of the 82.5 median forecast.