MARKETS

Iron ore prices are improving, and it spells good news for Australian miners. Reports from proactiveinvestors Australia said that at China's Tianjin port, price of the key steelmaking ingredient has reached $137 a tonne.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 70 points or 0.5% while the S&P gained 0.8% to 1782 as the Nasdaq jumped 1.

When the five largest stocks (which make up over 30% of the ASX) contract by one per cent or more, a 1% plus contraction will also occur, considering the market that has very little diversification.

In Eurozone economic news, industrial production fell by 0.5pct in September, but annual growth accelerated to 1.1pct.

Despite only a modest pullback in the early part of the session, local equities started to deteriorate in the final three hours of trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 1.3 per cent, making it the worst day for local equities in 1.5 months. The major banks were the biggest culprits for today's selloff.

The security of Bitcoin banks was once more placed in doubt after reports came out on Tuesday that a Chinese Bitcoin exchange holding $4.1 million for 1,000 customers had disappeared.

The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by close to 0.5 per cent at lunch, with the tiny IT sector the only industry to escape the losses.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportRegular readers know I've been wrestling with the history of stock markets, which suggests a correction or pullback is overdue.

Although there is some reduction in investments in the mining sector in Australia, the decline could be made up by expected increase in mining production in the next 5 years.

The dominant theme in global markets was continuing US dollar strength, as tapering expectations continue to ramp up. This saw equities drift lower, with many investors out there in wait-and-see mode heading into a raft of Fedspeak including Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen. Fed member Richard Fisher got the ball rolling on taper talk after saying it could happen next month during a speech in Melbourne, adding that monetary accommodation was getting riskier by the day. Meanwhile, Dennis Lockhart sa...

In US economic news, chain store sales rose by 3.3pct in the past week compared with a year ago according to Redbook Research, down from 3.8pct in the previous week. The Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index rose from 0.13 to 0.14 in September. But the employment trends index eased from 114.8 to 113.65 in October.

By Greg PeelThe Dow lost 32 points or 0.2% while the S&P dropped 0.2% to 1767 and the Nasdaq was flat.

The Australian share market ran out of steam in the afternoon session, managing only a modest daily gain, despite record highs being reached on Wall Street overnight.

The Australian share market is back in the black today, rising by 0.3 per cent in early trade after the US Dow Jones and S&P 500 Indices notched up record gains again overnight.

Hackers had successfully entered into the system of payments processor Inputs.io from a four-month-old Australian Bitcoin bank and stole over $1 million. The hacking incident is estimated to have taken place between Oct 23 and 26.

Three decades of economic and social policy is expected to be swept aside in the coming 48 hours.

In European economic news, Italian industrial production rose by 0.2pct in September, while annual contraction slowed to minus 3.0pct.

By Greg PeelAs to whether last week saw some light at the end of the long, dark uranium tunnel last week is yet to be determined.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 21 points or 0.1% while the S&P gained a point to 1771 and the Nasdaq was flat.

Despite a close to 0.5 per cent improvement in very early trade, the Australian sharemarket steadily eased from around 10.30am (AEDT) onwards and slid into negative territory from around lunchtime. The banks were the worst performers, with ANZ slumping by 1.74 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket kicked off the week almost 0.5 per cent higher, helped by better than expected US jobs growth on Friday and solid Chinese economic news on Saturday. The market however is now barely managing to hang onto a few points of gains. The All Ordinaries Index is up by 4 pts or just shy of 0.1 per cent.

Richard (Rick) MillsAhead of the HerdAs a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.

Macro excitement is back making front page news as the US, China and Europe produce varying arrays of macro data.

In US economic news, non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 204,000 in October, well ahead of forecasts tipping a 125,000 gain. Jobs were revised up by 60,000 in the two previous months. The unemployment rate rose from 7.2pct to 7.3pct.

By Ashley JessenASX Top Gainers & Losers plus Market Snapshot - 11 November 2013Positive US jobs data suggesting 205,000 new jobs were added versus an expectation of 120,000, provided a handy boost of 167 points to the Dow Jones, to cap off 5 straight weeks of gains but with Gold down under $1,300 a...

The weekly closed last week on an uptrend. The market has lacked direction for the past fortnight and rallies have been quick and short lived with a lack of volume at the peaks indicating the market is being bid up as sellers remain patient.

FNArena Editor Rudi Filapek-Vandyck participated in Sky Business' Your Money, Your Call - Bonds versus Equities on Friday two weeks ago.

The Australian share market closed lower on Friday, after Wall Street recorded its worst session since August a day after the US Dow Jones Index closed at record highs. Despite the successful debut of social media site Twitter, which soared 73% from its listing price, Wall Street closed lower.

Underneath Canada is a very large reserve of natural gas, estimated at 449 trillion cubic feet, that could provide the energy needs of the country for 145 years, according to a report by the National Energy Board. The bulk of the reserves are in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.