BUSINESS

B.C. public school teachers to vote on Thursday whether to ratify new deal or not.

Buyers made several attempts at pushing local shares higher in early trade on Wednesday, although their efforts were brought to heel quickly. As lunchtime loomed on the east coast the market was again dipping into the red. The softer tone local came despite US share markets postingsolid gains overnight with a growing sense that the US Federal Reserve will remain cautious about the process of increasing interest rates and any potential rise in 2015.

Air France enters its second day strike by the pilots this Wednesday. Only 40% of scheduled flights will be operated.

Pope Francis could be an easy risk for the ISIS this weekend on his visit to Albania.

We have never had a clearer example of the adage the 'market is always right' than what happened with China overnight.

In US economic data, producer prices were unchanged in August. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 0.1%. Producer prices are up 1.8% on a year ago. Chain store sales were up 3.6% on a year ago, down from the 4.9% annual gain in the previous week.

Venezuela once had a toilet paper shortage, which appears to have been addressed already. The shortage has shifted to other products, now to branded breast implants that the nation's female population obsessed with physical appearance, are now using made-in-China implants or even those that are of the wrong size.

The local market extended its losses in the second half of trade, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.5 per cent or 29.2pts to 5446.2. The miners ended modestly firmer; however the improvements lessened this afternoon while falls from the big banks held the market back most. Australian shares have fallen for five consecutive sessions while yesterday was the worst day in five weeks for local stocks.

The Ebola outbreak will last 12 - 18 months more.

The Australian sharemarket is modestly lower after recording its biggest daily slump in five weeks yesterday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.1 per cent and continues to soften following disappointing signs for China's economy on Saturday.

BSI marked the housing market in Australia as the second most overpriced in the world.

We remain fixated on the events that will unfold on Thursday morning, with trading in the currency markets suggesting expectations of a change in language are a near certainty.

In US economic data, industrial production fell by 0.1% in August - the first decline since January. US Capacity utilisation fell from 79.1 to 78.8 in August. The New York Fed's Empire State general business conditions index rose from 14.69 to 27.54 in September -the highest since October 2009.

The Web sites of Australian carriers Telstra, Vodafone and Optus, and Cupertino-based Apple crashed because of the huge volume of demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Europe's commercial real estate investment market continued its strong growth during the first half of the year with France and Germany leading the way, Property Magazine International reported, utilising a study conducted by the CBRE Group.

Six months after Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 370 mysteriously disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, the head of the Indonesian Police Force claimed he knew what happened to the missing Boeing 777 jet but did not provide any further details.

It was a tough day for the Australian market after the falls on Wall Street on Friday night and the weak Chinese data released on Saturday there was little hope of a strong day for the Aussie markets. By the close the All Ordinaries Index was down 1% to 5,475.4 points

Pilots of Air France will stage a work stoppage from Sept 15-22.

The Australian share market remained under the control of the selling fraternity on Monday morning. The weakness in Europe and the US continues to cast a pall over the local picture. US stocks ended last week under pressure, leading the S&P 500 to shed just over 1 per cent over the course of the week. Similarly the ASX 200 lost 1.2 per cent during the same period.

In what seemed to be a direct blow to strict Catholic doctrine of marriage before sex, Pope Francis married 20 couples on Sunday who have lived together and no less already had children. The papal wedding took place in no less than in St. Peter's Basilica.

Apple's new products has impressed Goldman Sachs analysts who raised their price target of Apple stock and earnings forecasts. Apple Pay may be promising in Australia.

Inflation risk is starting to creep into the psyche of US markets; the S&P just snapped out of its longest streak of weekly gains in 2014 on Friday, as all eyes turn to this Thursday's FOMC meeting.

In US economic data, retail sales rose by 0.6% in August and lifted 0.3% if autos are excluded. Both results were in line with forecasts. Consumer sentiment rose from 82.5 to 84.6 in September, above forecasts for a result near 83.3.

Optus Australian subscribers could expect better TV, Internet, phone and data transmission with the successful launch of the carrier's Optus 10 satellite on Friday morning. The Ariane 5 rocket launched the satellite from the European space centre at Kourou, French Guiana.

The price of iron ore has hit a five-year low of $82.20 per tonne, spelling more bad news for Australia's top export commodity. Price of the key steelmaking-ingredient has been on a downhill trend since Dec 4, 2013 as the benchmark price of iron ore tumbled down 41 per cent.

BRW named on Friday a software firm about to launch a HipChat app for Apple watch as the best placed to work in Australia. The award is based on feedback from over 28,000 workers polled by BRW and a culture audit.

Embattled carrier Malaysia Airlines has barely recovered from two major tragedies four months apart when a third tragedy almost hit the airline on Saturday. MH 198 which left Hyderabad on late Saturday bound for Kuala Lumpur had to turn back because of auto pilot defect.

An online petition is collecting signatures to shutter the Naked Sushi catering company in British Columbia, Canada, because of its flagship service in which diners eat sushi that is piled on top of a naked female model's body. Feminist groups in Canada denounced the Japanese firm for treating women's body as just as object and only emphasises the sexual role of women in society

In a picture that was much like Thursday, sellers continued to push the ASX 200 lower over the course of the afternoon. Initially the area around 5520 for the index provided some modest support, although by mid-afternoon the area gave way and new lows were plumbed. Counter intuitively, the Materials sector was the sub index that performed the best over the last session of the week. The improvement was a combination of seller's fatigue and the anticipation of a lower Aussie dollar, which would...