BUSINESS

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) deputy governor and operations head, Geoff Bascand, said digital currencies may one day replace cash. In his recent speech before the Royal Numismatic Society in Wellington, he described digital currencies like Bitcoin as a challenge to the form and use of money.

The state of health of a woman during pregnancy very much determines the size of her newborn baby.

The Australian sharemarket is falling for the second day, with sluggish performances offshore last night not helping. The All Ordinaries Index is down 0.1 per cent and is flirting with the key 5500pt mark.

The stocks of major supplier for Apple are moving faster that the stock of Apple itself as iPhone 6 release date nears

HIV home-testing kits, similar to the pregnancy tests, will soon be made available in Australia after the federal government lifted a ban restricting their manufacture and sale.

Enterprises are excited at the advent of Internet of Things (IoT) as a big business opportunity. This is amid concerns about devices proliferating and network capacity and security becoming unwieldy in matching the growing number of end points from connectedness.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued what could be its highest alert to warn residents of Okinawa and the rest of the country to relocate to higher grounds in anticipation of massive wind damages and localized flooding brought by super typhoon Neoguri.

At least three people have died, among them a newborn boy, after a strong 6.9-magnitude shook the border between Guatemala and Mexico on Monday. The temblor injured 32 others, damaged dozens of buildings, toppled down power lines as well as triggered landslides.

It's been 109 trading days since the S&P futures has had a pull-back of 5% or more and on current trend, is it unlikely abate anytime soon.

In US economic data, the Employment Trends index rose from 119.03 to 119.62 in June. In European economic data, German production fell by 1.8% in May, the biggest reduction in two years and well below market expectations.

It was an uneventful start to the trading week, with the Australian market closing largely flat. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) eased by just 0.1 per cent or 5.5pts while still remaining above the key 5500pt level. The Independence Day holiday in the U.S. on Friday and the subsequent closure of American markets provided local stocks no lead today.

New real estate social marketing site Nestbuilder.com has surpassed Zillow's total number of listings within half a year of its launch.

German airline Lufthansa will be entering into a joint venture with Air China that will see the two airlines share revenue on certain routes in Asia by selling each other's flight tickets. The routes are situated between China and Europe.

The Australian sharemarket is off to a quiet start following a holiday in the U.S on Friday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by just a few points with weakness from the miners, energy stocks, industrials and healthcare sector the biggest drags.

Many shock jocks probably think their listeners have grown immune to their strong language and talk teetering on verbal abuse.

The rumoured iWatch is set for October release date as hinted by supplier Quanta; Apple Hires TAG Heuer Executive for iWatch to be “Swiss Made”

Crews of power supply utility firms on Monday are racing to restore electricity to more than 250,000 homes and businesses groping in the dark in Atlantic Canada after tropical storm Arthur lashed through the area on Saturday morning.

Apple Inc is expected to release its FY Q3 earnings report on July 22 and investors are moving their sights away from the company's future product releases to its current ones out in the market.

With US markets having been closed on Friday, there are very limited leads for the region to work off this morning. Risk currencies have gotten off to a relatively flat start to the week, which is a firm indicator that nothing much has changed sentiment-wise as of Friday. Perhaps something to focus on is the weakness we saw in European trade after a disappointing German factory orders reading. This saw the major European bourses lose ground, apart from the FTSE which was relatively flat for the ...

US financial markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day.

Mining giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) said the 31 per cent drop in the price of iron ore in the international market may not be the last. It anticipated further declines in the price of the key steel-making ingredient in the coming months, said BHP Billiton President of Marketing Mike Henry.

The local sharemarket has just had its best week in four and a half months, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by approximately 1.5 per cent over the past five days. Better than expected employment growth in the U.S. gave local investors an additional push forward today.

The Manhattan spring market posted very activities and generated more sales compared to the same period last year, brokerage firms reported. Douglas Ellman Real Estate said although inventory has been rising since reaching an unprecedented low at the end of 2013, the supply of apartments for sale still remains unusually low.

The Australian sharemarket is rising for the third straight day thanks to better than expected economic news last night. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.6 per cent, is trading above 5500pts for the first time in a month and almost all sectors are higher. If the market can hold onto the gains for the remainder of the session, this is set to be the best week in 4.5 month for local shares.

Problems in the brake lines of its cars and SUV lines have forced Subaru to recall more than 660,000 vehicles, majority of which are in the U.S. About 100,000 are in Canada.

NASA is usually associated with fascinating jobs like that of astronauts, rocket ship engineers and scientists. A job, classified as weird, which joins this list of fascinating jobs is that of a staff sniffer.

US equities extended gains on the back of a monster jobs report which essentially reassured investors that the US economy is on track for a Q2 bounce. This saw the S&P close at an all-time high for the 25th time this year. The non-farm employment change reading for June showed a whopping 288,000 jobs added while the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%. Both readings smashed expectations and this helped push the US dollar higher across the board. Additionally there were also upward revisions for Ap...

In US economic data, non-farm payrolls lifted by 288,000 in June. The unemployment rate fell from 6.3% to 6.1% - the lowest level since September 2008. Data for April and May was revised to show a total of 29,000 more jobs than previously reported. The service sector drove the job gains while manufacturing and construction jobs also recorded a healthy lift. Over the first half of 2014 jobs growth has now averaged 231,000 jobs per month, the best start to a calendar year since 2006.

The Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia has developed a new breed of apple, dubbed as "black apple" that can rival the Pink Lady as world's most popular apple.