POLITICS & POLICY

U.S. STOCK MARKETSThe Dow finished with its biggest decline in almost three weeks Tuesday, falling for the second session in a row after knocking on the door of multiyear highs early in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.06 points, or 0.5%, to 13203.58, its sharpest drop since Aug. 2.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is relatively unchanged this morning, currently trading at USD1.0470 as low trading volumes make it hard for the AUD to hold onto the gains experienced following the RBA's release yesterday.

Tony Abbott is convinced he is a ‘modern man’ as he parried accusations from Labor ministers that he behaves quite differently when dealing with female colleagues at the Parliament.

Philippine government officials confirmed on Tuesday that the body of the country’s interior ministry chief, Jesse Robredo, has been retrieved from the wreckage of the private plane that crashed Saturday afternoon in seawaters located south central of the Philippines.

The number of New Zealanders making an exodus to Australia has reached a record high in July, Statistics New Zealand said, which reported that a whopping 53,900 people departed New Zealand to transfer to the resource-rich nation.

The U.S. State Department has accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of sidestepping the real issues surrounding his legal predicaments even as a key Labor figure sounded off grave concerns on the prospect of the Australian national getting a fair trial in the United States.

As expected, the board of Australia's Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF) has recommended on Tuesday the A$1.4 billion ($1.46 billion) bid of gas distributor Pipeline Consortium APA Group, a day after rival suitor Pipeline Partners Australia (PPA) bowed out from the chase game.

Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of labour beleaguered Qantas Airways Ltd., has decided not to accept his bonus and pay rise for this year, in what could be a fitting gesture in light of the continuing massive fiscal crisis affecting both local and international companies.

Oil major Chevron Corp on Monday announced it had reached a $450 million agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC to exchange its assets in the Browse development for stakes in the Clio and Acme fields in the Carnarvon Basin.

U.S. STOCK MARKETSU.S. stocks took a pause Monday, with the Dow industrials ticking down for the first in three sessions, as telecommunications and consumer-discretionary shares fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 3.56 points, or less than 0.1%, to 13271.64.The blue-chip benchmark had capped its sixth-straight weekly advance on Friday, putting it within striking distance of multi-year highs.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott suffered a double whammy in two successive days. On Monday, he was ejected by Parliament during a heated Question Time and the next day reports said support for Labor continued to rise despite the introduction of the carbon tax in July.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar had a very quiet night with markets noticing the effect of the traditional summer holiday periods in the Northern Hemisphere.

Pipeline Consortium APA Group could most likely win the takeover battle over Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF) after rival bidder Pipeline Partners Australia (PPA) announced on Monday it no longer plans to match APA's raised bid.

Australia may find it hard to meet the demands of the ‘Asian Century’, this was hinted Monday by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry in a speech before the Australian Industry Group held in Canberra.

Poor prices of coal in the world market spurred by a continuing weak demand from the Asian market had prompted China-backed Yancoal Australia to suspend its expansion plans in all its seven mines in Australia.

Gu Kailai, wife of former Politburo top contender Bo Xilai, was given a suspended death sentence on Monday, concluding a brief but high-profile murder trial that China watchers said was both a political and criminal proceeding.

New Zealand suffered its first female combat kill in Afghanistan on Sunday following an attack on Humvee army convoy that was on its way back to a forward base manned by Kiwi troops in the Afghan province of Bamyan, reports said.

BlueScope Steel Ltd's financial performance for the 12 months to June 30 has improved, albeit marginally, after posting a full year net loss of $1.044 billion, up by one per cent than the $1.054 billion a year ago.

Stocks inched forward Friday to cap their sixth straight weekly gain, finishing a hair short of multiyear highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 25.09 points, or 0.2%, to 13275.20, about four points shy of its mark on May 1, when it set a more-than-four-year high.

Australia: The AUD has been the beneficiary of global central bank and institutional buying in recent weeks. This has been due partly to Australia's relatively higher interest rates and yields on Commonwealth and state government bonds as compared to other developed economies.

The latest Treasury’s admission that Australian surplus cannot be supported by current levels of federal revenues only proved that the May budget presented by Treasurer Wayne Swan was grossly unrealistic, the Coalition said.

Cost cuts and a business expansion in Asia have proven to be an effective business strategy for the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group as third-quarter profit jumped 10 per cent from a year ago.

South Australia has a new underground copper and gold mine, as Oz Minerals launched on Friday its latest project development at Prominent Hill.

For every cause, there will always be a corresponding, resulting effect.With prices of commodity on the downhill, coupled with growing operating costs, Queensland miners may be forced to slash jobs if only to be able to comply to a proposal to increase mining royalties in the Australian state.

Shares of Molycorp Inc. dropped to a year low on Thursday after the cash-strapped rare earths miner announced on the same day plans of selling a combination of stock and debt in order to raise as much as $517.5 million to help fund operations at its California mine.

Technology stocks helped drive the biggest advance for the Dow in almost two weeks after investors took comfort in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's stated commitment to hold together the euro zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.33 points, or 0.7%, to 13250.11, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 9.98 points, or 0.7%, to 1415.51.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar moved modestly higher overnight as comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel lifted sentiment in another quiet session.

The trial production of the $US8-billion iron ore project of China's CITIC Pacific Ltd in Western Australia has again been moved to November, delayed three months later than last announced.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has assailed federal authorities for lack of strong resolve in handling serious border protection affairs in light of reports that the crew of a cargo ship that rescued asylum seekers off the Indonesian waters were intimidated by some of the refugees.