ECONOMY

An international study has confirmed the all too obvious - that the air pollution wrought by the excessive coal burning in China's north has affected the life expectancy of the people there, reducing it by as much as five years.

Australian bonds are lower on speculation that a job rise in the U.S. will lead to an easing of bond buying by the Federal Reserve. According to a report by the U.S. that claimed 195,000 new jobs emerged in June.

The number of job advertisements has declined for the fourth consecutive month. Western Australia takes a toll as the mining industry slows down due to falling gold prices leading to job cuts.

The demand for easy money is a powerful one. Europe's austerity drive (also known as living within one's means) has hit a few road blocks - again. Portugal has had enough and the political situation there looks shaky. As a result, government bond yields shot up to 8% yesterday.

The Australian market seems to want to ignore looming risks, like China's credit-crunch induced slowdown. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates on hold but basically said they stand ready to cut further if the economy continues to weaken. The market liked the sound of that and had its strongest day in 18 months.

The New Zealand dollar soared against the euro and British pound after their respective central banks focused on easing bias which helped increase the demand for the higher yielding currency. The Kiwi also became stronger against the Aussie dollar.

China markets stabilised on Monday as policymakers offered reassurance that there is ample liquidity in the financial system, bringing to a close June's record credit squeeze which raised fears that China's years of relying on debt to finance massive projects are coming to an end.

Speaking at the last leg of his weeklong Africa tour, U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday called for stronger and more effective economic partnerships with Africa, one that would help sustain the region's fast growing economic growth while extending the benefits to as many people as possible.

Two more people have died from the dreaded SARS-like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the oil-rich nation Saudi Arabia, according to the country's health ministry on Wednesday. The latest deaths now bring to 36 so far the casualties from the fatal disease in the kingdom.

Following the trail of a recent immigration bill backed by U.S. President Barack Obama and the Senate, Australia has passed a similar bill that enforces a provision for foreign firms to advertise and prove a need for skilled workers before a visa issued.

Retail Shares were down in early trading on Wednesday after reports confirmed a lacklustre 0.1 per cent growth in the sector. In another report indicating the strength of the economy, sales of new homes were up 1.6 percent in May adding to a cumulative increase in the last four months.

The Australian dollar weakens further despite rallying slightly after the nation has posted a fourth consecutive month of trade surplus. On Wednesday, the Australian dollar traded at 91.62 U.S. cents, lower than Tuesday's exchange rate of 91.83 cents. Official data indicates Australia's trade balance last May maintained its positive streak for four months in a row with a surplus worth $670 million.

In early Wednesday trading, Australian shares have suffered losses after the decline of Aussie currency. That combined with a decline in commodity prices has had a negative impact on shares linked to resources. Other global indexes also point to the red.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) is disappointed with Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to keep interest rates steady for at least another month. The RBA has recently announced on Tuesday that it can possibly keep cash rates for another month as a weak Australian dollar reduces the need to cut rates.

This week, Croatia officially joins the European Union while the North Korean nuclear and missile threat is the subject of an ASEAN security forum.

A new meme is spreading in financial markets: The US Federal Reserve is about to turn off the monetary spigot. US Printmaster General Ben Bernanke announced that he might start reducing the monthly debt monetisation program called 'quantitative easing' (QE) as early as autumn 2013, and maybe stop it entirely by the middle of next year.

Gold dropped another -$18 an ounce... Mr. Market is working his devious magic... scaring away the Johnny-come-latelies... putting the fear of God into the rest of us.

The 2013 Financial Year could best be summarised by Charles Dickens' immortal opening line in A Tale of Two Cities: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.'

Australians are in for a treat when it's time to open superannuation statements by the end of the year. Average returns are reported to be at their highest in six years due to a strong market leap in the previous year.

After the economic repercussions brought by the Fukushima and Miyagi earthquakes, the Japanese economy had its first positive outlook in two years.

Fuel prices in New Zealand increased 4 cents per litre in June due to weakening of the New Zealand dollar and rising prices of commodities. Today, fuel prices rose again by another 3 cents along with the scheduled annual rise of petrol tax.

Nokia has raised up its stake at the mobile broadband industry as it purchased the remaining stake of Siemens in their joint partnership for 1.7 billion euros.

Several Myanmar nationals, particularly the religious and its supporters, express their criticism regarding their country's national mobile phone deal with a Qatar-based firm.

Saudi Arabia, determined to control the possible spread of the fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to the other global nations, has imposed a 15-day limit observance of the Umrah pilgrimage.

Speaking at a financial forum in Shanghai, head of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan said investors can no longer depend on cheap cash to fund riskier operations, cautioning that the central bank will conduct pre-emptive adjustments to liquidity in the banking system to keep financial markets stable.

The Australian dollar may be losing its momentum as three major banks in Australia have lowered their forecasts due to the phasing out stimulus of the US Federal Reserve and China's commodity prices.

A new study by Strategy Analytics revealed on Thursday that India had overtaken Japan as the world's third-biggest smartphone market.

Despite economic reforms and rapid growth in the economy following the 2008 recession, India's currency is at rock-bottom against the dollar. This could spell higher interest rates on loans for resident Indians and the interest rate is likely to stay the same for a longer period of time.

Although it had categorically denied its participation, Australia's flag carrier Qantas Airways Limited has launched its own investigation into allegations that its in-flight headphones had been manufactured and purchased from abused inmates in a prison factory in China.