POLITICS & POLICY

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has dropped back below USD 1.0300 for the first time in three days amid falls on US stock markets and weaker commodity prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Tuesday with a gain of 21.05 points, or 0.14%, to 14839.80, after falling 84 points earlier in the day. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 3.96 points, or 0.25%, to 1597.57, a new record high, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 21.77 points, or 0.66%, to 3328.79.

Embattled independent MP Craig Thomson is in another embarrassing situation as bad as when he was stripped searched by police. Court causes over his alleged misuse of Health Services Union (HSU) funds had eaten up his savings that at one point the balance of his bank account dwindled to $60.

Farmers and cattle graziers affected by drought in Queensland could be celebrating a holiday if only tropical Cyclone Zane came in a bit early to water the state's barren farmlands.

Bell FX, Rivkin Securities Currency Outlook: The Aussie dollar recorded gains overnight until early morning, but its strength will be tested anew with the release of China's manufacturing data later today.

The S&P 500 added 11.37 points, or 0.7%, to 1593.61, with all 10 sectors higher. It closed a hair above its record high of 1593.37, reached April 11. The tech oriented Nasdaq Composite Index rose 27.76 points, or 0.8%, to 3307.02, its highest level since 2000.

For majority of the global population, the home is the safest place to be, right where one is enshrouded in the love of family. But not for some Australian families who deem it better to sleep on the streets than be confined in a home where domestic violence and family breakdown abound.

Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei and one of the richest men in the world with an estimated wealth of $20 billion, is coming to Australia on May 1-3 for a three-day state visit. He will also be in town to push the sale of a North Territory cattle station that he owns.

Bell FX, IG Markets, Rivkin Securities Dollar Outlook. The Australian Dollar has rallied to its highest level in over a week following gains on global share markets overnight, but this morning it has slowed a bit to at US$1.0347 (8:15 AEST), but seen to make a rebound in later day trade on the back of a weaker US Dollar pre-empting more stimulus to be declared by the Federal Reserve

Australia's federal government is mulling to implement an 11-day public holiday cap per year.

Residents of Cairns to the tip of Cape York in Australia's Queensland have been advised to brace for potential for heavy rain and strong winds as a low pressure brewing in the state could likely develop into Cyclone Zane.

Chances for an Australian Labor Party (ALP) victory in the Sept 14, 2013 election appear dimmer as ALP leader and Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces on Monday the $2 billion budget gap for the current financial year.

Inasmuch as it has acknowledged it has become the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, China is deadset to nonetheless accelerate its actions to reverse its role to the decelerating state of the global weather phenomenon.

Bell FX, Rivkin Securities, IG Markets Currency Outlook: There was a slight weakening of risk-related assets over the weekend with the lower-than-expected turnout of U.S. GDP. The AUD opened this morning below the 1.0300 level banking on hopes that the ECB rate decision will provide the boost during this week's trading.

FROM IG MARKETS CHRIS WESTON, Chief Market Strategist:The commodity trade came back with a vengeance today, and whether this is one-day affair or the start of something more compelling, we have seen traders taking shorts off the table, and many putting on new longs.

Takehiko Nakao has been unanimously elected President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by its Board of Governors.

All the past few months, Australian voters were conditioned to believe that the poll contest in the September national election would be between Australian Labor Party leader and current Prime Minister Julie Gillard and Coalition leader Tony Abbott. However, a third Australian is aiming to be the country's next prime minister and is reorganising the United Australian Party (UAP) for that purpose. He is mining billionaire Clive Palmer.

Telecommunications and materials stocks drove the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to a fifth advance in a row after a string of firm earnings reports and an upbeat reading from the labor market.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is sitting just south of USD 1.0300 this morning which is slightly higher than where it was trading at local close of business on Wednesday.

Prince Harry of Wales was able to experience how to change a baby doll’s diaper with one hand while the other holds a dumbbell during his visit at Headway in Nottingham, England on April 25. Headway is a charity organization that supports the brain injury survivors and the 28-year-old Royal Prince showed his charming side at the event.

It was a day of lost medals for two World War II diggers on Thursday as Australia celebrated ANZAC Day.

IG Markets strategist Evan Lucas on Global Markets:Commodities and currencies alike are jostling for position heading into the start of May - as rate cuts, balance sheet expansions and increased stimulus measures dominate the financial headlines.

Even with its massive weight and build, cute and cuddly yet scared pandas in China scrammed for safety at the height of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan province on April 20.

Affirming its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," Papua New Guinea has been struck yet again by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, the fifth that the country experienced in a span of six weeks. No tsunami warnings were released.

Chinese exports of its precious rare earths have jumped in the first quarter, spurred by a global demand that was bolstered by falling market prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday was up 152.29 (1.05 per cent) at 14,719.46. The broad-based S&P 500 added 16.28 (1.04 per cent) at 1,578.78, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 35.78 (1.11 per cent) to 3,269.33.

Australian Dollar Outlook (BELL FX, Rivkin Securities): Slightly lower overnight by 0.17% $1.0258, the Australian dollar has been trading marginally higher at $1.0267 (8:50 AEST) at the start of this morning's auction against the US dollar.

While the battle over the tax records is still being fought, Google Inc.'s executive chairman Eric Schmidt had a say in defending the company's reputation. He simply came to the rescue as Google Inc. has been recently struggling with increasing attacks on the sum of tax it paid in the UK.

The 2013 Lyrids Meteor Shower was at its best peak from April 21 to the early morning hours of April 22. Viewers who were not able to experience the spectacle can still catch the rare phenomenon with NASA’s live stream coverage shared on Space.com beginning at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT).