POLITICS & POLICY

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.

The Japanese government together with a consortium of Japanese companies are poised to buy a 10 per cent stake in Chevron Corp.'s Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia for $4.35 billion.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second consecutive day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling by 2.4 pct or 101.6 pts to 4214.7. Shares have fallen by around 5 pct so far this month and have significantly reduced the gains for the calendar year to just 2.5 pct.

Australia's Afghan Mission will definitely end by 2014, according to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but the country will continue to honour it commitment of supporting stability in Afghanistan.

Gold and copper mining company Anglo Asian Mining PLC's production and development plans for the Gosha gold deposit has been approved by the Azerbaijan government.

The Australian share market lost ground yesterday as the ongoing European concerns held markets and commodities back, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending off 36 points to 4,316 points.

Areva, a nuclear power plant builder based in France, has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan on a joint exploration program for a possible uranium development project in Australia.

And so it goes. The issuance of the controversial temporary operating licence (TOL) for the Malaysian rare earths processing plant of Lynas Corp. continues to hang.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened slightly lower again this morning after talks between Greece's political parties failed, which led to safe haven interest in the US Dollar and adding to the recent weakness in our own currency.

MORNING REPORT. The Empire manufacturing survey rebounded jumping from 6.56 to 17.09 in May. Across the sub-indices both new orders and shipments recorded healthy (7am AEST)US advance retail sales edged rose by 0.1pct in April after the brisk 0.8pct rise in Marchgains.

The Australian sharemarket received a negative lead from global markets last night, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ending 0.8 pct or 35.6 pts lower to 4316.3. This was no major surprise as European shares hit a four-month low and dropped by around 2 pct last night. The situation in Greece continued to weigh heavily on investor confidence while Moody's (one of the major ratings agencies) downgraded 26 Italian banks last night by between one and four notches. This included Unicredit and In...

Not only numbers in the arrival of tourist exchanges are affected in the ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines, but also the potential income of the airline industry shuttling the tourists between the two Asian countries.

Japan, which has since expanded its energy mix in a bid to rely less on nuclear power, has scheduled a public forum of producers and consumers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Tokyo on September.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor Party may have benefitted somehow from the cash handouts announced last week in the federal budget in terms of more primary votes. However, the Craig Thomson scandal continues to drag the party.

Natural gas and oil development projects near the Atlantic Ocean, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, could be facing potential damages in the coming months with the onset of the rainy season.

China, stronghold of the world's supply of rare earths, is set to carry out a proposal of uniting its many rare earths manufacturers into a one large company that represents the entire sector.

New Queensland Premier Campbell Newman officially swore into office on Tuesday members of the new state parliament, which saw an overhaul during the March election and booted out the Labor government.

About 64 per cent of 1,000 Australian businesses surveyed by the Pricewaterhouse Cooper's (PwC) Private Business Barometer worry about the direct hit their business will suffer from the carbon tax.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed higher boosted by an ease in Chinese monetary policy, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 9 points to 4,351 points.

The national budget presented last week by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan appears to have successfully boosted the poll numbers of the ruling Labor Party, according to the latest Newspoll survey.

American rare earths miner Molycorp Inc. announced on Monday it will float in the market an offering of senior secured notes in the hopes of raising $650 million to help push its $1.3 billion acquisition plans of Canadian rare earth processor Neo Material Technologies Inc.