RETAIL/CONSUMER GOODS

Australia's employers led by an industry group and the retailers association have warned of the possible consequences of the minimum wage increase approved by authorities.

Australia's services sector showed poor signs of improvement, according to the latest Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI®), the seasonally adjusted index fell 1.6 points to 49.9 after a strong lift the previous month (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity).

Expect a lacklustre trading today at the Australian stock market because of negative to mixed leads derived from offshore trading overnight.

Stardeals, a shopping website that offers a daily deal on the best local goods, services and cultural events as part of the global Groupon Inc. network, this week began offering deals for the first time in Perth.

The retail sector saw improvements in the month of April as its sales chalked up better numbers that signaled a better outlook for the local economy, according to the latest data issued on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The takeover bid of Spain's food giant Ebro of Australia's Ricegrowers Ltd will no longer push through as some shareholders in the latter rejected the bid.

The South Australian apple growers will file a protest before Canberra's Parliament House to stop the importation of apples from New Zealand.

A gradual implementation of the carbon tax is the favoured scheme of industry groups led by the Business Council of Australia.

Trolley thieves beware. Woolworth has launched a new mobile application that will allow people to report a lost trolley via GPS. The retail store giant hopes this move will reduce the $50 million lost every year in trolley collection and replacement costs.

Choice, an advocate of consumer rights in Australia, submitted a report to the Productivity Commission's retail inquiry and demanded that Australian retailers should explain and justify the astounding mark-ups of a minimum of 50 percent over the international internet companies' prices.

Australia's James Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat and American hedge fund Tiger Global have invested some $80 million in online retail giant called Catch of the Day.

Woolworths Ltd is planning to roll out contactless payment facilities across all brands, to make the shopping experience quicker and more convenient and help reduce time spent waiting in checkout queues.

Environment group Greenpeace has warned consumers of the possible dangers pose by children's toys made in China because of the high percentage of a harmful chemical found in them.

Leading manufacturer British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) on Tuesday launched a national media campaign against the Federal Government's proposed plan to impose plain packaging on cigarettes that could harm marketing and sales.

The Australian dollar jumped and recovered its four-day loss as an impact of the Reserve Bank's hint that benchmark rates may soon rise up at some point.

Australia's Reserve Bank has hinted that higher interest rates maybe inevitable to contain the jump in consumer prices, authorities said.

Japan's Sony Inc has resumed the partial operations of its leading PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services in the U.S. and Europe after more than three weeks that they were attacked by hackers, the company said in a statement.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have been taken to task over dodgy origin labelling, after an investigation by the NSW Food Authority revealed that two stores were selling mislabelled fruit The incident marks the first time Coles and Woolworths have been fined for Country of Origin labelling breaches, and both have been placed on the NSW Food Authority's Name and Shame register.

The 21-year antitrust battle Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has been fighting with the U.S. government ends today, May 12.

Australian media company Fairfax Media Ltd. (FXJ) will cut about 82 editorial production jobs from its two main Sydney and Melbourne newspapers as part of a drive aimed at saving A$15 million (US$16 million) a year.

Groupon, the group buying site that features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in more than 500 markets around the world today announced its launch of the Groupon New Zealand, which began offering deals on May 10, 2011.

American pop star Lady Gaga has invaded the virtual farms of Farmville and has her own GagaVille to promote her singles included in her album "Born This Way," online games producer Zynga has announced.

A skimpy swimsuit print that is part of the newest goddess-inspired collection uncovered by a Byron Bay swimsuit designer angered the Indians.

Gamers world-wide are in for another visual treat and experience as they can be the ones to lead the assault into the simulation videogame battleground set in the background of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's abode in Pakistan.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) has announced that its chairman, Chumpol NaLamlieng, is stepping down in July

The Senate’s second interim report into milk pricing has acknowledged the customer benefit of lower milk prices - and that such benefits should not be dismissed lightly.

Internet giant Google has launched its Google Shopping product search engine in Australia.

After a two-week long outage of its PlayStation Network, Sony Corp. (6758) said that it is in the final stages of internal testing of the new system and will restore the popular gaming service "in the coming days".

Diversified Philippine industrial conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has completed its record-setting shares and bond global sale deal worth $970 million with the resumption of trading on the company’s stock on the Philippine Stock Exchange