POLITICS & POLICY

Member-nations of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should re-evaluate their current charts and slash output production to help acclimatize itself to the pending return of Libyan crude to the global markets as well as a potential increase in oil production from Iraq.

China and India have sworn they will cooperate with the world's more than 190 nations towards an international treaty that would include limiting the fossil fuel emissions of industrialized as well as emerging economies like them. Australia had earlier refused to commit if other countries are also not cooperating towards a new Kyoto Protocol.

The Australian sharemarket kicked off the new trading week in positive fashion with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by 1.1 pct or 47.3 pts to 4311.4. All sectors improved today with the exception of the consumer staples. Weakness from Wesfarmers (WES) put downward pressure on the remainder of the sector. WES, the owner of Coles supermarkets is the largest company in the consumer staples space.

The La Nina weather pattern expected to drench the summer months in Australia is deemed to impact on gas generation, carbon analytics firm, RepuTex said in a briefing.

GAIL (India) Ltd. has signed a 20-year import supply agreement with U.S. based Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. (CQP) for an annual supply of 3.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) has agreed to raise by 10 per cent its equity interest holdings in the Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The LNG project is a joint venture between Origin Energy Ltd. and US giant ConocoPhillips.

Bluescope Steel (ASX: BSL) will apply for a $100 million assistance from the Australian government's Steel Transformation Plan (STP) which accepted on Monday applications from eligible companies for competitiveness assistance advances.

Australia reportedly plans to accelerate its withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, with Diggers stationed in the war-torn nation set to be reduced dramatically next year.

As a vote on same-sex marriage nears in the Australian Parliament, the public believes members should vote according to their principles, not party direction.

The fiscal revenue growth of the world's second-largest economy expanded 10.6 per cent in November from a year ago figures of $101 billion. However, it was a sharp fall month-on-month from October's 16.9 per cent and September's 17 per cent recorded growth, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Sunday.

At lunch, the Australian sharemarket is gaining for only the second time in five days with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 1.3 pct or 55.6 pts to 4319.7. There was no shortage of news out over the weekend including the downgrade of three French banks and yet another European Summit took place in Brussels, Belgium.

It is unlikely that the United States will recover the spy drone it lost to Iran as the Islamic Republic declared on Sunday that it does intend to give up the 'trophy' it painstakingly won last week.

Australian consumers had reluctantly spend in the first six months of 2011, making it harder for small to medium businesses to survive and thrive during that semester. Coming in the last weeks of 2011, a survey of more than 1,500 consumers across Australia's states had indicated what are the priorities of consumers during these trying times.

Not-so-new and old faces are expected to fill the new composition of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Cabinet on Monday as reports emerged that the Australian Labor Party leadership plans to implement a reshuffling that would consolidate its position in the immediate months ahead.

Pakistani officials have announced that they are releasing the three wives and several children of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

South Korea's military are securing three Christmas tree towers near the border with North Korea after Pyongyang warned Seoul on Sunday not to light these up.

Small Business Minister Nick Sherry announced on Monday his resignation ahead of a cabinet reshuffle. The senator from Tasmania said he would no longer run for reelection.

(From Bell Potter Securities -BELL FX Daily) The Australian dollar has opened this morning around the 1.0200 level after equity markets reacted positively to the conclusion of the EU summit on the weekend.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan forecast on Sunday that business investments in the country would rise to 32 per cent to a record A$158 billion for the current financial year.

Australian share markets are seen opening positively this week following the strong signals from the European stock markets. Analysts from CMC Markets, Commonwealth Securities, IG Markets, and OptionsXpress share their views as to what direction the local equity markets will go on this first trading day.

U.S. stocks wrapped up a second straight week of gains as the euro zone's latest plan to fix its debt crisis overshadowed some disappointing forecasts from big U.S. companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 187 points, or 1.6%, to 12184.26, undoing most of the previous day's sharp losses.

The Productivity Commission's finding that NBN Co's business model is potentially in breach of the federal government's own competition policy underlines the need for a cost-benefit analysis of the National Broadband Network, Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said.

It was yet another tough day for the Australian sharemarket with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) down 1.7 pct or 74.8 pts to 4264.1. There was weakness across the board today with the miners the biggest losers, down by more than 2 pct. Thanks to a positive start to trade on Monday, shares pulled back by only 1.87 pct this week.

Body parts or remains of many U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 may have been mishandled, according to reports.

Australian mining firms, especially those with operations in Queensland, are gearing for a potential massive rainfall in the coming months.

China's annual consumer inflation rate dropped in November to 4.2 per cent from a year ago, its lowest level in more than a year, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

Virginia Tech has announced that there is no longer the threat of danger on campus and standard activities can now resume after 2 people (counting a police officer) were shot and killed on Virginia Tech's university grounds on Thursday.

A report by the IT Industry Innovation Council released on Friday said that Australia has the potential to become a global cloud computing hub.

China is mulling to expand its real estate tax to include more cities in 2012.