MARKETS

On the first trading day of 2015, price of iron ore registered a slight increase to $71.26 per tonne on the spot market, up from $66.84 before Christmas. The improvement could be seen as an auspicious start for Australian iron ore miners who suffered a significant dip in income due to price of the key-steelmaking ingredient hitting a five-year low in 2014 because of the low demand in China and glut in supply.

Activity will slowly start to pick up again this week with market participants making their way back to trading after a break. China and Japan return to trade after having been on New Year's related breaks for most of last week. Attention is likely to be on Europe for the next few weeks as investors digest the developments from Greece and what this means for the euro. Comments made by Greek Prime Minister Samaras suggesting the country's euro membership is on edge heading into the January ...

In US economic data, the ISM manufacturing index eased from 58.7 to 55.5 in December, well below the consensus estimate of 57.6. Construction spending fell by 0.3% in November, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.

The local sharemarket has recovered early losses to finish the first session of the New Year in positive territory. The All Ords (XAO) finished up 26 points or 0.5 percent to 5,415, while the ASX 200 (XJO) improved by 25 points or 0.5 percent to 5,435.

For the first day of trading for 2015 we saw the Australian market opened slightly weaker off 12points before coming back to be only down 5points by 10.30am ESDT.

After he heard that AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was missing less than an hour after the Airbus jet left Surabaya for Singapore, Tony Fernandez, the CEO of the embattled air carrier was in the Indonesian city within the same day.

How would next leader of the oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia respond to oil prices and the Islamic State problem is now being speculated following the hospitalization of King Abdullah bin Adulaziz on Wednesday.

Most global financial markets were closed on Thursday for the New Years Day holiday.

Australian shares failed to maintain early gains and finished modestly lower this holiday-shortened trading session. Volume was very light; in fact today was the quietest day of 2014 with only $1.3bn worth of shares traded.

Australian shares are flat in what has been a volatile but quiet week for local stocks. The ASX 200 is up just 2pts at lunch, slumped by 1 per cent yesterday and surged by 1.5 per cent on Monday. It has been half as busy as usual so far this week - with investors in holiday mode. Today is likely to be an uneventful session for the Australian market as the ASX will be closing at 14:10pm AEDT (two hours earlier than usual).

Authorities arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday Cho Hyun-Ah, the Korean Air vice president whose rage over being served macadamia nuts in a plastic bag instead of on a plate delayed the plane's departure and arrival.

Global markets are set to finish the year with a bit of downside on the back of resurfacing Greece concerns. Some analysts feel another Greek political debacle will make it harder for ECB President Mario Draghi to pursue his grand plan of sovereign bond purchases given opposition from other northern nations such as Germany. There will be little event risk to look out for across the region today with some key markets like Japan already closed for New Year's related holidays. Perhaps China's...

Australian shares extended their losses this afternoon to shed 1 per cent and wipe out a chunk of yesterday's 1.5 per cent surge.

Australian shares are easing for just the second time in eight trading sessions following yesterday's 2.5 per cent surge. The ASX 200 Index is down by 0.3 per cent on light volume due to the holiday interrupted trading week.

The macadamia nut industry has resigned Korea Air Vice President Heather Cho to thank for because her air rage over being served the nuts in a plastic bag instead of a plate saw a large increase in demand for the controversial nut in South Korea.

With no sign of the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 after two days of surveillance, the search was widened on Tuesday in terms of a bigger area and more teams joining.

The main headline from overnight trade was Greece's failure to elect presidential nominee Stavros Dimas in its final attempt. After two failed attempts, yesterday was parliament's last chance to elect him as president before being forced into an early election. Having failed yet again, the country will be headed back to the polls as early as January 25. An election puts all sorts of doubt on the future of the bailout agreement given anti-austerity party Syriza is currently leading the poll...

In US economic data, the Dallas Federal Reserve manufacturing index eased from +10.5 to +4.1 in December.

Airlift rescue operations continue on the burning Norman Atlantic off the island of Corfu.

Australian shares surged despite a substantial fall in market activity (volume). The ASX 200 Index extended earlier gains to finish 1.5 per cent firmer by close; finishing at intraday highs.

Australian shares are kicking off the holiday shortened trading week firmer, with the ASX 200 Index up 0.8 per cent. This is the first session of trade since last Wednesday and historically the next few weeks are usually quiet for local stocks.

Although the fate of the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is still unknown, the fact that it has been gone with no contact for more than 24 hours is an indicator the jet possibly had the same fate of the still missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

In what seems to be a repeat of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, AirAsia Flight QZ8501 remains missing for around 24 hours as nations stepped up offers of help to search for the Singapore-bound jet with 162 people aboard.

US equities continued to drift higher on Friday despite most global markets being closed for Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. In fact, US equities went on to print fresh record highs again with investors happy to continue following the trend. Data was also limited in that time but there continued to be some commentary out of key emerging markets

In US economic data released on Christmas Eve, initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 280,000, their fourth straight week of declines, and below the forecast of 290,000.

Another air tragedy similar to the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight looms over the global aviation industry after an AirAsia plane with 162 people on board went missing on Sunday. The aircraft left a provincial Indonesia city for Singapore and flew over the Java Sea.

The Australian share market has ended a shortened Christmas Eve session (14:00 AEDT Close) around the best levels of the day following an indifferent start where local investors sniffed at the strong gains on Wall Street overnight. US stocks posted impressive improvements following figures revealed that the final estimate of economic growth for the September quarter showed a 5.0% annualised pace, well above estimates of 4.3%

The Australian share market has started the Christmas Eve session with a modest gains before trading lower. Local investors shrugged their shoulder after taking in the strong gains on Wall Street overnight.

It was another stellar day for US equities with a much better than expected revised GDP reading triggering the gains. Q3 GDP came in at a whopping 5%, revised from a previous estimate of 3.9% and much better than an expected 4.3%. This was the biggest gain since 2003 and this was enough to keep investors encouraged. Equities extended gains on the news with the S&P and Dow at fresh record highs. The S&P hit 2087 and the Dow topped 18,000. The GDP reading also underpinned the greenback as it ralli...