Economists forecast lesser chances of another overnight cash rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) when it sits down on Tuesday for its regular monetary board policy rate meeting.
The Tasmanian government heeds the signs of the time on efforts to legalise gay marriage in the state, according to Premier Lara Giddings, who on Saturday described her administration’s support for the proposed laws as “a very proud moment for all of us.”
It is likely that Australia will experience yet again the weather phenomenon El Niño in the coming months.
Leading Cairns figures lauded the federal government for picking out the Queensland city as the official site to host the G20 finance ministers gathering in 2014, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard expressing confidence that she made the right choice.
Stocks surged Friday, with the Dow industrials jumping to a three-month high, after U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose more than expected in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 217.29 points, or 1.7%, to 13096.17, its biggest percentage increase since late June.
Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has maintained its firm tone this morning, after US jobs data on Friday night were higher than expected, fueling a jump in major equity indices in Europe and the US.
A Coalition federal government would impose tougher measures on foreign investments based on plans outlined in the discussion paper unleashed by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on Friday.
The world's production of iron ore, the key ingredient for making steel, despite continued slump of prices, has achieved an all-time high production record in 2011, according to a latest July report of the UN's Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Canada-based Ivanhoe Mines has changed its name and will now be known as Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. The new name, which was approved at the company's annual meeting on June 28, 2012, had gone into effect.
Continuing labor problems, coupled with lower global prices of commodities and difficulties associated with the weather, at its Australian coking-coal subsidiary have taken its toll on the overall net profit of Mitsubishi Corp. for the first quarter.
Bell FX Currency Outlook: The local unit has openedlower after a volatile session as more rhetoric and no firm action from the ECB left markets disappointed.
MORNING REPORT
(6am AEST)US initial jobless claims edged up by 8,000 to 365k in the final week in July. The 4-week average of jobless claims - a better indication of the underlying trend in the labour market - eased modestly to 365,500. US factory orders fell by 0.5pct in June, well below expectations for a 0.5pct rise. Orders for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft - seen as a measure of business confidence and spending plans - slipped 1.7pct in June.
The Opposition had admitted that it would take them some time to repeal the carbon tax if the Coalition wins the 2013 election in Australia. That means despite the promise by Coalition leader Tony Abbott, Australian businesses would be paying the carbon price of $23 per tonne, which is passed on the consumers, at least for another 12 months.
China had recovered some 1,000 tonnes of illegally mined rare earths in two separate police crackdown operations last week as it continued to intensify and strengthen the management of the sector. At least 50 individuals were detained because of the operations.
Fair Work is generally working and living up to expectations save for some rooms for improvements, according to an assessment report issued on Thursday by the government review panel.
Cats and kittens have been "speaking up" on Facebook, thanks to funnymama.com and other meme-focused websites spreading some cat lovin' on the web. Cats can be so cold, defiant and snooty. Yet in spite of their stuck-up "attitude," these felines can be so adorable. See some of the funniest and cutest cat photos in the accompanying slideshow.
The Labor government is cold to suggestions that Australia needs to accommodate long-term presence of U.S. nuclear strike force group within its borders, in the northwest region specifically.
Ned Kelly, the famous outlaw hanged in 1880 for leading a gang of bank robbers in Victoria and killing three police officers, could very well rest in peace now 133 years after his death after a new exhumation licence was signed by the Victorian government on Thursday that effectively allows the return of the remains of the notorious bushranger to his family and descendants.
A three-man panel released on Thursday its first review of the Fair Work Act. The panel said that despite the criticism by business of the legislation, the act was working as intended and did not decrease competitiveness or caused excessive cost increase.
At least 350 jobs are in for the taking once the gold mine project of Alkane Resources starts constructing in New South Wales (NSW), its first gold mine to be developed in several years. The gold mine will be located near Dubbo in the state's central west.
Investors of Australian iron ore developer Sundance Resources, along with industry experts, are keenly awaiting latest developments if the Perth-based miner will bite into a lowered takeover bid by Hanlong Mining of China.
Australia’s rescue operations within the territorial waters of Indonesia will soon be governed by a formal agreement between Canberra and Jakarta, a top official of the Indonesian government hinted late Wednesday.
Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar is trading just under 1.0500 and is well supported on any dips at the moment. Australia:
U.S. stocks finished a tumultuous day of trading a touch lower, as investors were whipsawed by the latest Federal Reserve policy statement and a raft of trading irregularities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 32.55 points, or 0.25%, to 12976.13 after the Fed's statement. Before the announcement, the blue-chip Dow had been up about 30 points.
Although electricity has been brought back to India a day after a massive blackout caused darkness to 620 million Indians, the south Asian country is expected to continue to grapple with power problems in the next two decades.
Nations around the world, primarily those in Europe, have been patiently "courting" officials of the home rule government of Greenland for potential access into the latter's natural resources after latest satellite data showed that almost 100 per cent of Greenland's ice sheet surface experience melting over a stretch of four days in July, a report said.
Australia and the United Arab Emirates have entered into a uranium sales accord where Australian uranium will be sold UAE to support the latter's nuclear power programme.
A U.S.-based defence think-tank has advised Washington to invest on a multi-billion military capability build up in northwest Australia to effectively underpin America’s refocus efforts in the Asia-Pacific region as articulated by U.S. President Barack Obama in late 2011.
A rising Australian dollar, coupled with cost increases and low domestic demand has pushed Australia's manufacturing sector to post its lowest ever growth in three years in July, which could also get worse with the implementation of the carbon tax.
In what is considered to be the first casualty of the carbon tax commotion, a Melbourne gym has been fined, and paid dearly, for its misleading claims on the supposed impact of the tax to the cost of its memberships.
