James Kong

The Australian Dollar has opened up firmly above 0.9000 this morning after the release of two major announcements on the weekend: US GDP Q2 figures and China PMI (purchasing manger's index) for the month of July.

The US economy grew at a 2.4pct annual pace in the June quarter after an upwardly revised 3.7pct reading for the March quarter (previously reported as a 2.7pct gain).

US stocks are expected to face a volatile week as Wall Street awaits a key government jobs report expected to show unemployment at elevated levels.

The Australian market looks set to test the 4500 level after a relatively flat read from Wall Street.

Greenback weakness across the board has helped put the Australian Dollar back over US90 cents during offshore trade on Friday and we open in Sydney this morning at 0.9050.

It looks likely that the Australian share market will finish weaker for the second straight day with the S&P/ASX 200 index off by 0.6pct or 25.5pts to 4498.6.

With Australia's largest investment bank, Macquarie Group, announcing profit warning for some sections of its business, the local market opened lower and stayed on the red for most of the morning trade. The pull from the oil and gas sector also proved a weight on the market today.

US stocks fell for a third day as investors were left disappointed after poor earnings from technology and consumer-related companies. Whilst there was quite choppy trade the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 1101, whilst the Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 30 points or 0.3%.

When investment writers talk about "realistic expectations" it is normally about alerting investors to the fact that high market returns should not be expected to continue.

US jobless claims fell by 11,000 to 457,000 in the latest week - broadly in line with economist forecasts. The four-week average level of claims also fell from 457,000 to 452,500. The Kansas City production index rose from +3 to +14 in July.

U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday for a second consecutive day, as disappointing revenue from utilities and consumer companies pushed aside a handful of strong earnings reports Thursday, though the market remained on track to close out the best month since July 2009.

The Aussie dollar staged a remarkable recovery over the last 24 hours rallying from a post inflation report low of 0.8904 to trade at a high of 0.9040 overnight.

The Australian Dollar has opened around USD0.9000 this morning after trending higher in the early part of the European session.

The Australian share market broke a four day winning streak today, despite an afternoon buying frenzy which briefly the main indices in the black. A weak lead from Wall Street saw local investors pull back, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closing down 5.9pts or 0.1pct to 4536.2.

Australia's share market has snapped a four day winning streak, after finishing a little weaker despite gains to miners and banks.

The Australian share market is currently off by 0.4pct or 20.4pts to 4521.7 with almost all sectors currently in the red at lunch.

Overnight, US stocks retreated on the back of a disappointing earnings report from Dow component Boeing and the latest Beige Book report which suggested several districts were experiencing softening growth.

US durable goods orders fell by 1.0pct in June after a 0.8pct fall in May and 2.9pct rise in April. Economists had tipped a 1.0pct rise in orders.

The US stock market edged lower Wednesday on news that orders for big ticket items sank in June. The Dow fell 39.81 points (0.38%) to 10,497.88 in final trades, after a four day winning streak.

The Australian dollar has opened lower this morning following a bout of risk aversion trading overnight.

The Aussie's three-week ascent towards US90.50 came to an abrupt halt yesterday immediately after the release of the much-anticipated June quarter inflation data.

Telstra is turning up the heat this Thursday night, with a "three-hat" line-up of former MasterChef series 2 contestants at Telstra's 400 George Street Store to celebrate the launch of the new iPhone 4.

Apple's iPhone 4 will be available in 17 more countries this Friday, July 30.

The Australian share market managed a turnaround in afternoon trade to rack up a fourth successive win. Financial stocks drove the gains while the big miners also received support despite a shaky start.

The Australian share market finished firmer for the fourth consecutive trading day, closing at its strongest level for more than a month. Sentiment on th local bourse was boosted by the release of lower than expected inflation figures for the June quarter.

The Australian share market has put in a U-shaped performance today, rallying initially, selling off after the release of CPI data and then rallying back to positive territory.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) has announced the arrival of its all-new compact vehicle, the ASX, or Active Smart Crossover.

The Australian Dollar has opened little changed and is still starts with a "9" as global markets "seem" to be becoming cautiously optimistic about the economy in the latter half of calendar 2010.

Australians switch shops and banks for the best deals, but stay for personalised service, says a research from NCR Corporation, a provider of self-service solutions.