POLITICS & POLICY

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar continues in languish in the 0.9800's after the G8 meeting held on the weekend produced no "revelations" of how to deal with the economic woes of Europe.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said on Monday that he would not stand in the way of a repeal of the carbon tax if Opposition leader Tony Abbott becomes the next prime minister of Australia.

Blue chips extended a streak of declines the likes of which haven't been seen in almost 40 years, amid continued euro-zone concerns and Facebook's lackluster debut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its 12th loss in 13 sessions, the worst 13-session performance since October 1974. The average lost 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38.

Today certainly was not an enjoyable day for those involved in markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slumped by 2.6 pct or 109.7 pts to 4098.8. Almost all sectors ended in the red today, with the mining and financial sectors the worst performers. Today was the biggest daily pullback for the ASX in 2012 and the worst weekly performance (down 5.6 pct this week) since September 2011. Australian shares wiped out all of the market's gains for the year in a matter of days.

Embattled independent MP Craig Thomson is expected to blame in Australia's Parliament on Monday a Health Services Union (HSU) official for allegedly destroying documents that would clear him of charges.

Canadian miner Corvus Gold obtained the $5.5 million needed to fund and push through with the planned works at its North Bullfrog project in Nevada.

Weeks before a parliamentary election, Mongolia has approved a draft law that bans or limits the potential ownership of any foreign state-owned companies of its massive natural resources.

The euro crisis is definitely worrisome, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Friday, but Australians can look forward on a robust economy, which she added is supported by an investment pipeline totalling to about $450 billion.

The Australian government affirmed on Friday allegations of animal cruelty that involved two Australian live animal exporters owing to their business connection with Indonesian abattoirs, which reportedly slaughtered animals using sub-standard techniques.

The debate between Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Sydney Airport authorities over the reason behind plane delays continues.

It seems Lynas Corp. and its embattled rare earths processing plant in Malaysia could be included in a list of hot topics for discussion in what could be a most opportune timing as Malaysia signs a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia on Tuesday.

The Australian share market ended a little lower yesterday, despite a positive start to the session. The ASX 200 Index (XJO) fell 8 points to 4,157 points.

China has expanded the number of rare earths it will export to the global market, from 10,546 metric tonnes to 21,226 metric tonnes, the country's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Thursday.

Although Queensland state public employees could still take their morning and afternoon tea break, under cost-cutting measures initiated by the new state government, they must bring their own tea and coffee sachets.

Rebekah Brooks, the Former News International Chief was charged by British prosecutors for obstruction in the ongoing investigation about phone hacking in the British newspapers owned by media mogul by Rupert Murdoch.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar losses its sparkle as European debt crisis fears worsen overnight.

Stocks extended their streak of declines Thursday as concerns about Spain's banks and a weak reading on mid-Atlantic business conditions outweighed upbeat earnings from Wal-Mart and Sears.

As the health of the global economy, in lightning speed, turns from nasty to gloomier, even big spenders stop and pause to think if it ought to continue and pursue valiantly plans of improvement and expansion.Such was the case for BHP Billiton Ltd., as its very own chairman, Jacques Nasser, has already suggested the $80 billion it planned to invest on new mining projects by 2015 would rather be kept inside the safe momentarily.

As rising incomes help boost the demand of the safe-haven precious yellow metal gold in China, it is quite probable that the world's second-largest economy, also the world's largest gold producer, will topple long recognised India as the world's largest gold bullion market in 2012.

The Australian sharemarket ended a little lower today, despite a positive start to the session. The ASX200 Index (XJO) fell 0.2 pct or 8.1 pts to 4157.4. Early in the session, investors seemed encouraged by news that the Japanese economy grew at a faster than expected pace last quarter. Japan is Australia's second largest trading partner and accounts for around 12.3 pct of all goods and services exported overseas.

Japan's 10 utility companies, with no more nuclear power to turn to, burned natural gas to a record high in April this year compared to a year ago.

Nations keep watch on the eurozone crisis, wary that the region's further deterioration could impact on their economies but for an Australian economics professor, the continent's financial stress could prompt for a lower borrowing cost in Australia.

It looks the safety and development plan that is currently being modified by Chinese regulators and planners for its nuclear industry will have its stamp of approval by June.

Yesterday was another down day for the Australian share market, with widespread selling in all sectors apart from the utilities, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended off 101 points to 4,214 points.

Production of the precious safe haven yellow metal gold by Tanzania, Africa's fourth largest gold producer, jumped 13 per cent to 40.4 tonnes in 2011 from 35.6 tonnes in 2010, as companies increased production output prompted by the metal's rising price during the period in reviews.

Hot issues such as the carbon tax and income tax rates were thrown to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday when she served for one hour as live blogger on The Telegraph.

Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has compiled the latest report how countries balance economic growth with ecological conservation and Australia is in the top 10, closely behind the United States and the Arab nations Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The AUD is trading just above USD0.9900 this morning after falling to a low close to USD0.9870 overnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth straight day as confusion over Greece's political future extended the recent stock slide. The blue-chip Dow lost 33.45 points, or 0.26%, to 12598.55, to finish at the day's lows.