MARKETS

European shares rallied to a fresh 5½-year high on Tuesday. Better than expected earnings from consumer goods maker Unilever (up 1.8%) supported investor sentiment. Sales rose 8.4% in emerging economies and accounts for more than half of earnings. In addition solid German sentiment data remained near 8 year highs. The monthly ZEW survey of economic sentiment slipped from 62.0 to 61.7 in December. Economists now expect Germany´s growth expansion of around 1.7% in 2014 after 0.4% in 2013. The FTSE...

The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) decried on Tuesday the decision of national carrier Qantas to have two of it Boeing 747s flown to Hong Kong for heavy maintenance in the later part of 2014.

Over the period of recent weeks the local market has cultivated the appearance of resilience. Appearance, because these kind statements have to be seen through the lens of summer volumes, which can make for some rather flighty price action. In the support of the claim, last week saw the market recover from a 2% deficit to end the week flat. Today the market was down almost 20 points before a mid-session recovery saw the market end the day ahead by 30 points.

The Australian sharemarket has crept into positive territory after a slightly weaker start. The All Ordinaries Index is up by less than 0.1 per cent; however is being held back by an underperforming mining sector. U.S. sharemarkets were closed last night due to the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday; keeping trading volume lighter than usual. There is no major economic news scheduled for release in Australia or the region today; however yesterday's slightly better than expected Chinese GDP rea...

With the US shut for Martin Luther King Day, overnight leads are thin, meaning another day of digesting the China GDP data.

European shares edged lower in thin trade on Monday. A surprising quarterly loss by Deutsche Bank prompted investors to cash in recent gains on banking stocks. Deutsche Bank fell by 5.4% after a drop in fixed income trading revenues restructuring costs, and also warning about a challenging 2014. Credit Suisse fell 2.5% and Commerzbank lost 4.5%. The STOXX 600 Banking index lost 1% but was still up 5.5% so far this year. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.1% with the UK FTSE up by 0.1% and the ...

While Australian consumer may not throw a fit when their clothes does not fit like what that Indian actress did, buyers deserve better treatment, said Ed Gribbin, president of Alvanon, a clothing size and fit consultancy.

Beijing will have a more cleaner-burning source of energy with the purchase by the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) of the 25 per cent stage in one of Africa's largest uranium mines. CNNC bought the shares of the Langer Heinrich operations in Namibia for $190 million from Australian uranium producer Paladin Energy on Monday.

The Australian share market finished in the red today, but importantly closed well off earlier lows following better than expected Chinese economic growth figures. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) hit a low of 5237.7 points during trade before closing down just 8.8 points to 5307.6.

The Australian sharemarket is losing ground following a mixed and uninspiring session from global markets on Friday. The main potential driver of local stocks this afternoon is likely to be a barrage of Chinese economic readings at 1pm (AEDT). Volume is expected to be on the light side globally, with the Martin Luther King Jr holiday keeping U.S. markets closed tonight.

Expectations are growing that 2014 will be the year that commodities will return to the winners' cycle, after having seen the likes of corn, silver, gold, nickel and platinum all falling into bear markets in 2013, with 23 commodities finishing last year in the red.

n US economic news, the University of Michigan US Consumer Sentiment Index eased from 82.5 to 80.4 in January. US industrial production rose by 0.3% in December, with manufacturing output up 0.4% in the month. For the quarter industrial production advanced at a 6.8% pace - the fastest quarterly growth rate in over three years. US housing starts fell by 9.8% in December - marking the biggest drop in nine months. US building permits fell by 3% in December. Weather may have played a part in the wea...

The Australian share market closed slightly lower today as the banks and miners fought it out. Some great gains from the likes of BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) were offset by falls in the banking sector and from retail stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished the day's session lower by 3 points or 0.1 per cent to 5316.4 points.

The Australian sharemarket was up for the third consecutive trading session on the open; however the gains were short lived. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now slipping by 0.2 per cent at lunch, with the miners the main supportive mechanism for stocks after 2.5 hours of trade. Weakness across almost all major sharemarkets last night and disappointing profit results from major U.S. financial institutions are contributing to the losses.

The AUD remains as one of the more interesting G10 currencies around, as it has again weakened against all 16 major trading pairs on what was one of the most disappointing employment change data releases in years.

In US economic news, the NAHB housing market index dipped from 57 to 56 points in January, suggesting home builder confidence had faded a bit at the start of 2014, although most developers expected the housing recovery to continue. US jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 326,000 in the past week. US consumer prices posted the largest gain in six months, rising by 0.3% in December to be up 1.5% over the year. Core prices rose by a much more sedate 0.1%. The Chicago PMI was revised higher from 57.9 to ...

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) apparently has made the right decision in placing Sam Walsh at the helm of the company. A year after being appointed CEO, Mr Walsh has broken company records when he reported on Friday that the miner had produced 266 million tonnes of iron ore.

Passengers of Air New Zealand would soon have more destinations to fly to using the carrier. Reports said Air New Zealand would soon announce the major expansion of its routes and fleet on the heels of the airline inking a deal this week with Singapore Airlines, its erstwhile rival.

The heatwave took its toll on 4,179 sheep that died aboard the vessel Bader III on the way to Qatar from Perth. The Herald reported on Thursday the incident which actually happened in August 2013 aboard the exporter Livestock Shipping Service's (LSS) Bader III vessel.

The Australian share market had its best performance for 2014 today, adding to yesterday's gains and more than making up for the losses on Tuesday. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose 63.9 points or 1.2 per cent to finish at 5319.4 points.

The Australian share market is performing well in early trade on the back of gains in European markets and on Wall Street overnight, and in spite of disappointing local jobs numbers which have sent the Australian dollar to a three year low.

Both Europe and the US reacted positively to the news that the World Bank is raising its global growth forecast for 2014 by 20 basis points to 3.2%. The reaction from the developed world was further driven by where the growth is coming from, with developed nations component upped to 2.2% from 2%. The slight disappointment was that developing nations had their outlook cut slightly to 5.2%.

In US economic news, US producer prices lifted by 0.4% in December to be up just 1.2% over the year. Core producer prices lifted by a more sedate 0.3% in the month. The New York Fed Empire manufacturing survey lifted from 2.2 to a surprising 12.5 in January. The Fed´s latest Beige book, suggest economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors through late 2013. Nine out of the 12 districts indicated the local economy was expanding at a moderate pace.

After three straight sessions of losses, the Australian sharemarket has managed to improve by 0.7 per cent. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) was up by 0.14 per cent at its worst and 0.83 per cent higher at its best before settling 0.68 per cent firmer by the close.

Local stocks are managing to partly make up for yesterday's 1.5 per cent slump; the single worst day for Australian equities in four months. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is back above the 5250.0 market, following hitting four week low on Tuesday; now improving by 0.7 per cent.

The negative sentiment that has dogged markets finally came to a halt in US trade after December retail sales data came in better than expected. Earnings also got off to a fairly good start with gains for JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. This raised expectations heading into the Bank of America earnings, which carry significant weight given the bank's large retail offering and mortgage exposure. With tapering likely to roll on, investors really want to see data suggesting the US economy is in a muc...

In US economic news, US retail sales rose by a modest 0.2% in December, marginally stronger than the 0.1% forecast. More importantly core sales (excluding autos, gasoline and building materials) rose by a healthy 0.7% in December. Clothing sales lifted by 1.8%, supported by the colder weather, while gasoline sales rose by 1.6% and auto sales fell by 1.8%.

The Australian sharemarket recorded its biggest daily fall in four months, with the All Ordinaries slumping by 1.5 per cent and ending very close to a four week low. Local shares are down 2.5 per cent since the start of January; making it the worst start to a new year since 2010. Today's weakness was largely expected though, with the DOW index slumping by 1.1 per cent overnight. The falls were partly due to comments by a U.S. central bank official who said the Federal Reserve will continue to...

Sellers have been mobilised from the outset in today's session and have encountered little resistance from buyers along the way in early trade. The fall on Wall Street overnight has been too difficult to look through for local investors. The US Fed will be undeterred in relation to tapering despite the weak reading for US jobs growth according to comments made by the President of the Atlanta Fed overnight.