COMPANIES

All good things have to come to an end and unfortunately the S&P 500 could not make it four out of four successive gains. US equities saw selling right up until the close, with the bears easily winning the session. The NASDAQ was the worst performer, losing 2.2% while the S&P fell 2.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.6%.

The Australian sharemarket rose almost one per cent in the second day of gains, as markets recovered from last week's massive losses on hopes of a solution to Europe's debt crisis. However, the market investors remained unsure whether a solution to the crisis could be found amid conflicting media reports. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen 34.9 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 4,039.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 34.2 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 4,097.7.

In the recently published 2011 IT Industry Competitive Index report, South Korea ranks 19th place with 60.8 points.

(4.30pm AEST)Investor confidence remained strong today, with the local market managing to hold onto and add to yesterday's 3.5pct gain. Markets around the Asian region were generally firmer, after the Greek parliament approved a contentious property tax law which is crucial to its austerity plan and its commitments to secure bail-out funds. The local share market lost a little steam in afternoon trade but closed higher by 0.8pct, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 34.2pts to 4097....

South Korea's ruling Grand National Party seeks to ameliorate relations with neighbor North Korea through economic cooperation and humanitarian assistance, The Korea Times reported.

Energy giant BP on Wednesday has called on the NSW government to reconsider its decision to extend its policy on mandating both biodiesel and ethanol-blended petrol in NSW.

Facebook has denied it monitors users who have logged out of the service. Australian hacker Nik Cubrilovic this week accused Facebook of using to cookies to track users even after they've logged out of the site.

Just in time for the Christmas buying and spending season, Toshiba announced on Tuesday plans to offer a whole new range of affordable laptops and netbooks in October. A Toshiba laptop will be readily available to suit anybody's needs and budget. Prices range from $300 to $630.

Don't expect the iPhone 5 to be something different from iPhone 4. Chances are they are just the same device with a few upgrades in hardware and updates on the iOS. Consider it a smaller iPad 2 without the iPhone 4's antenna issues.

The cryptic message “Let’s Talk iPhone” in the Apple’s invite may mean that the handset can be controlled by speech.

A new report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) found that an unconscious bias against female workers persists across the country.

Apple finally decided to quell the rumors about the next generation iPhone when it sent out email invitations on Tuesday to a press event called "Let's Talk iPhone".

World oil prices has moved up more than 5 percent on Tuesday on encouraging news that European fiscal managers are working overtime on a bailout fund to contain the region's debilitating sovereign-debt crisis.

MIDDAY REPORT (12pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the second straight day with the ASX 200 index (XJO) up 0.5 pct or 20.5 pts to 4025.1 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) is also 0.5 pct or 22.2 pts higher to 4085.7. Shares improved by 3.5 pct yesterday, breaking three consecutive sessions of losses.

The Australian Industry (Ai) Group will push for an increase in the goods and services tax (GST) rate in the Oct. 4 and 5 tax forum organized by the federal government.

AFTERNOON REPORT (4.30pm AEST)The Australian share market snapped a three day losing streak today, rallying by 3.5pct as investor sentiment was boosted by hopes European leaders will announce fresh measures to address the sovereign debt crisis. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) added 135.9pts to 4063.5, after touching an intra-day high of 4049. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) firmed by 140.7pts or 3.6pct to 4004.6.

Netflix Inc. and DreamWorks Animation has reached a multi-year streaming deal that gives Netflix exclusive rights to run DreamWorks feature films and television specials.

The latest Australian Industry Group/Deloitte CEO survey released on Tuesday, "Business Regulation," points to the high and rising cost of complying with regulation for Australian businesses.

Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett hinted Monday that she may grant a brief injunction on sales of Samsung tablet while studying arguments from Samsung and rival Apple, a development that would likely delay the Australian debut of Samsung's 10.1 Galaxy Tab.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Standard & Poor on suspicion of issuing a complex mortgage security identified as Delphinus in 2007, at a time when the housing market already was crumbling.

Fashion magazines are now selling the goods they cover in e-commerce sites and could potentially become competitors to retail stores like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York.

MIDDAY REPORT (12pm AEST)As expected, the Australian share market is wiping out yesterday's falls with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 2.9 pct or 114.9 pts to 4042.5. Keep in mind that despite the improvement, the market locally has still lost ground for five of the past seven sessions.

Air New Zealand hiked its stake in Virgin Australia by 5 per cent to 19.99 per cent. With the increase, the flag carrier became the second largest shareholder next to parent firm Virgin Group.

Vodafone Australia has put a teaser site that allows users to register to get information on "this year's biggest smartphone release," which the ad hints is "coming soon to Vodafone."

Touted as the fastest broadband access available, Telstra announced on Monday the availability of its 4G long-term evolution (LTE) mobile network that the company said will be deployed to eight central business districts (CBDs) and 30 regional metropolitan centres nationwide.

After the Mongolian government stated it wants to acquire a bigger equity in the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine at a much earlier pace, Rio Tinto has cemented its shareholdings on the company, Ivanhoe Mines, which directly manages the said mining project in Mongolia. Rio Tinto now owns 49 percent of Ivanhoe Mines.

The developers of Minecraft are burning the midnight oil to meet the goal of unveiling a full version of Minecraft on 11/11/11. Just two weeks after releasing Minecraft 1.8, another adventure update to the sandbox building indie video game written in Java by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson, has been leaked. Persson has also tweeted that Minecraft 1.10 is in the works.

Thousands of farmland owners staged a massive riot against the authorities in Guangdong province last week in protest for forcibly selling the farmers' lands for a commercial complex, New York Times reported.

Game developer Mojang has announced that Minecraft will be available on touch-screen phones running on Google Inc.'s Android platform on Sept. 29.