MARKETS

Both credit Suisse and Deutsche bank have reviewed the Australian pathology sector to account for changes in market conditions and expectations.

The Chinese government has laid down the law to the country's property and steel industries, and in doing so caused cons...

The Australia 200 CFD Index finished 0.7% lower, with material, energy and industrial names detracting the most points.

The Australian dollar collapsed from near its highest in three weeks as a report likely to show economic growth in China-the country's largest trading partner-has likely slowed down.

Chinese investors represented by four consortiums appeared to be eyeing US insurance giant American International Group’s (AIG) Asian unit AIA Group for possible acquisition following Britain’s Prudential unsuccessful bid to takeover the insurance arm in June.

Pimco said Tuesday that Australia has solid economic fundamentals and is one of the top destinations for investment.

Across Asia, regional markets are mostly lower this afternoon, choosing to ignore Alcoa's better-than-expected Q2 earnings result and instead focusing on Chinese comments reiterating their intention to curb property prices.

The Townsville port is on the cusp of experiencing growth in its iron ore shipments, with the first shipment of two trial batches set to leave the port tomorrow bound for China’s Beilun Port, near Shanghai.

The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the 2nd day this week with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) flat at lunch.

A sluggish morning trading affected Australia's stock market S&P/ASX 200 Index as it declined 0.3 percent to 4,397.50 as of 12:48 p.m. in Sydney. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index shed off 0.3 percent to 3,004.56 in Wellington.

Australia’s Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd has been given an innovation award on Monday for its work on developing energy-efficient electricity generation units, as handed out by the NRW.INVEST in Germany.

The inability of the spot uranium price to break out of the doldrums (down again this week) has led to broker target price cuts for Australian miners.

National Australia Bank's Monthly Business Survey for June showed business oconfidence levels were steady as conditions improved slightly.

Giant aluminium firm Alcoa reported on Monday that its second quarter net income peaked to $155 million, far exceeding the company’s previously announced earnings guidance and improving from the quarterly loss it suffered from the previous year.

The recently established Dagong credit rating agency has made its first sovereign assessments, rating US bonds AA, Britain's AA- and Australia's AAA.

US Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, has indicated that improving small business access to finance is a key factor needed to support economic recovery.

U.S. stocks edged up Monday, led by technology stocks, including Microsoft and SanDisk, following ratings upgrades from analysts, although jitters over second quarter earnings reports and disappointing import data from China weighed on Alcoa and other materials stocks.

Australia's dollar fell from its highest level in almost three weeks to an intraday low near 87 cents on the back of a drop in imports of iron ore and copper by China, the nation's biggest trading partner.

Alcoa's after-the-bell result beat expectations and that's all that matters. Wall Street went nowhere all session as it waited. Dow up 18.

On Wall St, US markets rose for a fifth straight session as analysts upgrades of technology stocks bolstered optimism ahead of the Q2 earnings season.

The Australian dollar opened higher today, strengthened by a positive close on Wall Street.

The first day of the new trading week saw stocks finishing slightly higher with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by 0.3pct or 15pts to 4429.5.

The Australia 200 CFD Index was 0.3% higher at 4409, with energy and material names all outperforming.

Australian stocks ended firmer on Monday, overcoming a weak start to finish marginally higher on a quiet day when market players stayed mostly on the sidelines.

Morgan Stanley has foreseen that Australia's four largest bank institutions are about to flood the market with bond sales as they seek to refinance notes and fund lending initiatives, which in turn will push costs for the most indebted.

India's biggest coal importer, the Adani Group, was picked to develop an export fuel facility in Australia, reports said.

The first day of the week has not been well for the Australian currency because it traded lower from its three-week high. The Australian dollar and NZ currency faltered as speculations of economic recovery again spooked the market.

The Australian share market opened lower this morning but moved into positive territory on thin volumes.

Across Asia, regional markets are all higher on the back of improving sentiment on Wall St and news of the weekend that China's exports grew 44% on year in June.