Christine Gaylican

MORNING REPORT (7am AEST)US new home sales eased by 2.3pct to an annual rate of 295,000 in August, in line with the consensus forecast. There were just 162,000 new homes available for sale - the lowest on record. The Chicago national activity indicator weakened from an upwardly revised reading of +0.02 in July to minus 0.43 points in August. The Dallas Fed manufacturing output index lifted from +1.1 in July to +5.9 in August.

U.S. stocks jumped Monday, with blue chips clawing back more than one third of last week's steep losses, as investors bet that efforts will be taken to stem Europe's sovereign-debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 272.38 points, or 2.5%, to 11043.86, in choppy trading that saw the measure leap to an early triple-digit gain, give almost all of it back midsession and then move higher still.

The Australian Dollar opened at USD 0.9783 this week, finding support as the markets digest the IMF's policy board's weekend announcement, to act decisively and collectively, "to restore confidence and financial stability, and rekindle global growth".

The AUD has opened this morning below USD0.9800 as market confidence and continued concerns of a global recession hit the markets hard.

The Australian dollar has fallen overnight as pessimism once again pervaded throughout the financial markets. The AUD is back down near parity this morning and looking vulnerable to another move lower.

Asia-Pacific markets are expected to react warily to the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to stimulate growth by purchasing $400 billion in long-term Treasury securities with proceeds from the sale of short-term government debt.

Australia's growth momentum gained 0.5 percent from a month earlier to 284.2 and may after all see the light in the last quarter leading to 2012 as a leading economic indicator has been revised upwards to reflect this outlook.

Asia-Pacific's* business process outsourcing (BPO) market will reach revenues of US$17.47 billion in 2015, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3 per cent from the US$11.18 billion it hit in 2010, according to technology research firm Ovum.

The Australian Dollar has held its ground despite the IMF revising global growth forecasts from 4.3% and 4.5% in 2011 and 2012 respectively, to 4% in both years.

FXCM Currency Strategist, Christopher Vecchio, is bearish on the Aussie this week as the Australian economy continues to remain affected by global economic unease.

Global mining firm Rio Tinto Plc has announced to invest $833 million to increase the iron ore production in Western Australia. The increasing viability of the business allows it to command a better price for its issued bonds, which the company has priced at US$500 million for five-year, US$1.15 billion for 10-year, and US$350 million of 30-year SEC-registered debt securities.

The AUD has strengthened overnight after a downward revision in our local CPI data saw the AUD fall to below USD1.0200 during our trading session yesterday.

Consumer sentiment in Australia improved and went up 8.1 percent this month compared to August, according to a survey conducted by the Melbourne Institute and Westpac Bank.

On the eve of the Federal Government's October Tax Forum, new research from MYOB has found more than two thirds of Aussie business owners (71%) want the Business Activity Statement (BAS) simplified and three quarters (76%) want to have the GST rules reviewed and clarified; while over one third (33%) said that addressing these concerns would impact their voting intentions.

The Australian Dollar has opened slightly weaker this morning as the FX markets continue to be driven by headlines out of Europe and the US.

With 100 million users at the start of this year, Twitter now faces the challenge and mounting pressure to go public. An analysis of the social networking site's future moves and motives.

Australia: Yesterday the AUD fell steadily throughout the day as our equity markets posted significant losses. The AUD fell from a high of USD1.0470 early in our trading session yesterday, down to USD1.0320 at the end of the day.

The Australian Dollar has opened up this morning at 1.0438, as the weakness on international equity markets spreads, after attention was again focussed on the woes of the Eurozone on Friday.

AFTERNOON REPORT (4.30pm AEST)The local share market has finished the trading week on a positive note, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 7.6pts or 0.2pct to 4277.4 and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) firmer by 6.7pts or 0.2pct to 4194.7.

Chinese celebrity Coco Lee was all set for her march to the altar with businessman Bruce Rockowitz when some of her pre-nuptial photos were leaked in the Internet.

Amidst the disappointing jobs data for Australia, BELLFx analysis brought into the fore the unlikely downward adjustment in the cash rates by the RBA. The AUD continues to perform well on the cross rates with the AUD/EUR trading to EUR0.7600, and the AUD/JPY is trading above JPY82.00.

The local share market closed marginally higher today, although off earlier gains due to a disappointing jobs report. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 6.9pts or 0.2pct to close at 4269.8 after reaching a high of 4297.9 in early trade.

Fears of internal inflationary pressures and redounding volatility of global markets prompted Australia's central bank to keep the country's cash rates at its current level of 4.75 percent for the ninth straight meeting on Tuesday. This is still the highest among developed nations across the globe trudging with the slow economic recovery.

Australia's employers have opted to advertise online rather than on newspapers, according to the latest survey conducted by ANZ Bank, which showed a a monthly and annual decline indicative of a persistent sluggish economic growth.

A welcome lift in new orders and sales took the services sector into positive territory in August according to the latest Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI®). The seasonally adjusted index rose 3.3 points to 52.1 in the month (readings above 50 indicate an expansion in activity).

After three months of decline, Australian consumers went out to dine and shop in July providing a boost to the country's retail and services industries.

Australia is one of the top favorable investment hubs recommended by leading global bond fund manager Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) on Wednesday.

Australian's Treasurer Wayne Swan has finally been convinced that the country's economic prospects and the sectors involved and contributing to its strength needs a major review from policy makers and industry players.

Australia's Federal government has approved that BlueScope can draw from the funds allocated for the carbon tax package much earlier than planned.