BUSINESS

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.

Following the success of the Abbott government to repeal the carbon tax law, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is challenging the Coalition to also repeal another tax initiated by the past Labor government under former Prime Minister Julia Gillard - the mining tax.

Paula Bennett, the Local Government minister in New Zealand has called for innovative steps to ensure public participation in undoing archaic rules and regulations, reports NZ Herald. The reformist minister hit out at the hard rules choking citizens even in silly matters like signage for cake stalls or position of shower curtains.

The largest snack food company in New Zealand is sold to the Philippines' Universal Robina Corporation (URC) for NZ$700 million or US$609 million. Griffins, owned by Pacific Equity Partners which is a private equity fund manager in Australia, will be paid NZ$100 immediately.

It was another very quiet day on the Aussie market with total market turnover only at 2Billion shares well down own the daily average. Investors nervous about entering the market at present and larger investors sitting the day out from trading ahead of tomorrow´s June quarter inflation numbers (CPI).

Fairfax Media Chief Executive Greg Hywood reaffirmed the company's commitment to radio amid talks it is discussing a merger with Macquarie Radio Network. He said at a Melbourne Press Club event that the 180-year-old newspaper company is thriving, while adjusting to new commercial reality and creating new revenues.

McDonald’s and KFC workers allegedly kept food on the floor before serving their customers. They have also been accused of mixing fresh meat with “expired” meat.

Health Canada has ordered processors and sellers of mechanically tenderized beef meat to label their packages effective August 21.

Foxconn and Pegatron Corp, the manufacturing partners of Apple Inc, will start mass production of 4.7 inches iPhone 6 on the third week of July and 5.5 inches iPhone 6 on the second week of August

Usually a 2 points gain at the start of trade would not be seen as a strong start but since the SPI futures had our market set for a decline and we had weakness in overseas market this was a good start. But the joy was short lived with the market moving into the red within 30 minutes of trade.

Only Shanghai gained 0.17 per cent or 3.48 points to 2,059.07 over the weekend at the close of bourses in the Asian market, while most of the major stock exchange in the region logged losses after the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was hit by a missile and crashed on Thursday.

Mourning families and loved ones of the 298 lives that perished from the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 may have to condition themselves to further bear the painful accident. Investigators looking into the aviation accident said the probe could stretch into a year.

The black boxes or flight recorders of downed Malaysia Airlines MH17, an essential electronic recording device placed in an aircraft that would greatly facilitate investigations in the event of an aviation accident or incident, are finally in the hands of Malaysian authorities.

Global macro concerns outweighed further bottom-up strength from US earnings overnight, as the Gaza-Israel conflict raged on and the squeeze on Russia politically saw its index take a further pounding.