The large rally over the last six months is beginning to have its desired effect. Investors sitting on the sidelines are now being forced into the stock market due to their fear of missing out on further upside.
This week has been a balanced affair, with shares losing value on Monday and Tuesday only to make up for the losses on Wednesday and Thursday. At lunch, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down just 1.5 pts to 4743.7.
Coles and Woolworths are continuing through 2013 their battle for supremacy in the supermarket industry by renewing their milk price war. Both retailers have cut to $1 per litre their milk products.
On the the 9th of January, retailer Marks & Spencer PLC posted its third quarter results few hours earlier than expected as its data had been leaked by unknown source.
Better than expected Chinese data helped propel the share market today, following a flat start to the day's trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed firmer by 15.1pts or 0.3pct to 4745.2 after hitting an intra-day low of 4723pts.
Following a slight improvement for the local market yesterday, Australian shares are trading in the red for the fourth time in five sessions. Volume is still light on, however has started to pick up modestly over the past few days. All major sharemarkets around the world are trading normally today.
Why Australia’s Trade Deficit Can Only Grow Our Woes
A report by Commonwealth Bank infrastructure analysts titled Sydney Versus the World, released on Thursday, estimated Australia's premier gateway will reach its full capacity by 2025.
Prison term and hefty fines await Jonathan Moylan of the green group Frontline Action on Coal if the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) could prove that he violated laws by sending a fake press released that wiped out $314 million from miner Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC).
Chris Hadfield is just no plain Commander of NASA's International Space Station. He is also once photography aficionado. And this passion has helped the world see for itself the massive 'catastrophic' bushfires that is currently raging on in Australia.
Local stocks rose today, reversing most of yesterday's losses, despite falls on Wall Street overnight and weaker than expected retail sales data. By close of trade, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 17.8pts or 0.4pct to finish at 4730.1.
Local stocks pulled back yesterday with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finishing down 25 points. At the start of trade today the Aussie market gained 15 points and is currently holding on to these early gains even with the weaker than expected read on November retail sales hitting the market.
If the Australian stock market were a 20-20 cricket team, it would be about 1/80 after the first five overs. In other words, it would have the game well in hand, even if it were early on. Plenty of wickets to play with. Plenty of runs on the board.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC is set to tow its grounded drilling rig in Alaska as soon as weather conditions are good enough to perform the operation. The Kulluk, the Shells's drilling rig, will be moved to a save harbor, according to detailed plans of the company.
Spot iron prices are up to an almost 15-month high at $153.90 per tonne. The rally in prices, which started in December 2012, is mainly due to China's rebuilding of its stockpiles as the Asian giant gears to boost its economy, which in turn, could improve steel demand.
Not unexpectedly, Switzerland topped the 10 best countries to be born in 2013 list made by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Australia and New Zealand tied for second place.
Local stocks pulled back today, ahead of the start of the US earnings season and as investors looked towards the next crucial stumbling blocks for the global economy. Despite gaining in the early session, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished the day's trade at 4712.3pts, down 25.8pts or 0.5pct.
Following a modest pullback yesterday, the Australian sharemarket is back in the black at lunch with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.1 per cent or 2.8 pts to 4740.9. Yesterday the XAO slipped by around 0.1 per cent, however local shares are still up 1.75 per cent so far in 2013 (after five sessions of trade).
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) started on Monday night investigation of a fake press release that caused losses to Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) and its shareholders.
Positive jobs data out of the US on Friday failed to give a boost to local stocks today. The main All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished slightly lower, down 4.8pts or 0.1pct to 4738.1. On Friday, the S&P 500 Index in the US hit a five year high, while the Dow Jones Index was up 3.8pct on the week, its best weekly win since December 2007 as lawmakers agreed on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff and December jobs numbers came in higher than expected.
Wegelin & Co., the oldest Swiss private bank, said on Thursday it would shut its doors permanently after pleading to a criminal conspiracy charge in the U.S. and admitting that it had helped wealthy Americans for years avoid tens of millions of dollars in taxes.
Today the Australian share market opened higher with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 24 points. The Aussie market received a boost from the better than expected non-farm payrolls, Job report, in the states on Friday. As the start of trade the best performing sectors were Industrials, Banks & Energy. In the mining sector the small & medium size miners did better than large players and the media sector was once again listing small gains.
2012 December will be long remembered by luxury carmakers, including BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others, as they saw record luxury car sales in the U.S. market. BMW AG indeed preformed so good in the last month of the year as it saw an increase of approximately 39 percent for the period in the U.S., topping Mercedes-Benz in luxury car sales for 2012.
Transocean Ltd. agreed to pay as much as $1.4 billion to settle civil and criminal claims over Gulf oil spill in 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice informed on the 3rd of January. The offshore driller also conceded that its team was partly liable for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico.
Patrick Dempsey's Global Baristas LLC informed that its bid for Seattle-based Tully's Coffee was accepted. Also Starbucks Corp. and Baristas Coffee Co. took part in a bankruptcy auction. The "McDreamy" Patrick Dempsey's company is to pay approximately $9.15 million for a small coffee chain.
Some of the excitement surrounding the U.S budget legislation seemed to die off today. The Australian sharemarket lost a little ground today for the first time this year after a strong start to 2013. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipped by just 0.4 per cent or 18.5 pts to 4742.9, however improved by over 1.2 per cent this week. Aussie shares are currently trading at 19-month highs, and Wednesday was the best start to a new year in over a decade.
After a weak session on overseas market the Australian share market gave back yesterday's gains. At the open of trade the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) lost over 23 points with weakness in small and medium mining stocks and the energy sector. Markets in both China and Japan reopened for trade today will all market in the region now fully operational after the New Year's break.
The Aussie’s strong rally since the ‘fiscal cliff’ was averted has come to an abrupt end on the back of the minutes from last month’s Fed meeting which has shown a split in how long the participants want to continue the current money printing programs.
The last minute U.S. budget deal may have spared millions of Americans the burden of higher taxes amid a weak economic climate.
With billions of dollars in her name, Gina Rinehart, Australia and the world's richest woman, attracts media attention whether she likes it or not. In 2012, she again hogged the limelight because of her court battles with her three estranged adult children, her views on wealth, corporate skirmishes and her oodles of money.
