Vittorio Hernandez

There remains little in the way of meaningful data or macro news that would give markets a leg higher, or even lower in the case of the S&P.

Breaking news, the New Zealand Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at 3.50%. The statement following the no change decision suggested that policymakers were assesing conditions before looking to further rate hikes if necessary. The central bank talked down the NZ dollar saying "The exchange rate has yet to materially adjust to lower commodity prices. Its current levels remain unjustified and unsustainable. We expect a further significant depreciation".

A newly launched crowdfunding platform will be focusing on raising funds for non-bank lenders that provide short-term commercial property loans to small individuals and businesses looking at real estate investing, a report on Bloomberg said.

Australian federal police arrested on Wednesday two men after they raided the iQraa Islamic Centre in Underwood. They arrested 31-year-old Omar Succarieh of Kuraby and an unnamed 21-year-old man from Boronia Heights.

Because of the many perks enjoyed by Google employees, ranging from gourmet food to gym to laundry facilities, some wise workers manage to go around the giant tech firm's policy that no one should live in its office.

In an apparent bid to bait Floyd Mayweather into admitting plans to fight Manny Pacquiao, coach Freddie Roach is provoking Money May by saying that his wards, Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, are now better fighters than the unbeaten American boxer.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is open to the invitation by global business process outsourcing (BPO) giant Accenture to offshore IT work to the company's offices in the Philippines. However, ATO assured Australians that the deal, if it would push through, would exclude sending of personal tax information to Manila.

Sellers weren't discerning when it came to a choice off sectors on Wednesday, that largely chose them all , with the exception of the technology group. Apart from that most sectors experienced a solid decline. The economic news of the day only added weight to the selling cause.

The US market's worst session in five weeks set local shares up for a tough start this morning. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.7 per cent, completely wiping out Tuesday's 0.5 per cent gains and pushing the index back below the key 5600pt level. US and European markets fell by around 0.5 per cent overnight; however the S&P500 is still outperforming the Australian market by 3.5 per cent this calendar year.

Telcos are riding on the expected consumer frenzy created by the Wednesday launch of Apple's iPhone 6. Telstra is enticing smartphone enthusiast to buy the flagship device from it and get extra credit and download data.

French telco giant Orange is considering a buy-out of Spanish telcos Jazztel and Yoigo if ever these two firms would be placed on the block, said Orange CEO Federico Colom.

Equities retreated further with Apple's much anticipated iPhone 6 failing to inspire investors. Apple unveiled a range of new products but the excitement swiftly waned as the stock was sold off after having enjoyed some good gains. This wouldn't have come as a big surprise as the stock tends to fall following new product launches. Some would probably feel the pullback we are seeing this week has been coming for a while with US equities looking a bit overcooked and as the US dollar rallies ...

In US economic data, weekly chain store sales were up 4.9% on a year ago according the Redbook survey, an unchanged annual growth result on the previous week.

The Oakley Trinity Housing Association set aside its plan to operate a 24-bed facility for alcohol-dependent people on its Nazareth House site in Bishop Street. The group scrapped the idea due to negative response from residents who opposed the project.

When investing in real estate, it is easy to dismiss some portfolio as high-risk based on the category of property or investment vehicle they belong to, and the market forces that are expected to impact them in the near future. More often than not, what matters is that investors look at each real estate asset from a "local" perspective, a Canadian portfolio manager noted in a Financial Post report.

Fresh data released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) showed that on an average day, 3.2 million young adults used marijuana, 57,304 used heroin, 51,319 used cocaine, 46,179 used hallucinogens and 17,868 used inhalants.

A report by the Dutch Safety Board, released on Tuesday, on the cause of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17's crash on June 17 attributed the aviation mishap to a "large number of high-energy objects" that entered the Boeing 777 jet's fuselage.

Unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather is in the headlines again, not for beating another fellow boxer but for allegedly battering his former fiancé Shantel Jackson. The dailies are full of details on how Money May used his brute strength on women who are surely helpless against 37-year-old professional athlete.

Local shares improved this afternoon to make up for all yesterday's 0.36% falls. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed up 0.4 per cent with the mining sector a standout after a tough three weeks. Traded volume was light for the second day with a number of holidays in the region and a busy tail-end of the week.Australian shares are only 1.2 per cent below the six-year highs hit in mid-August despite a tough week. Stocks in Japan, China and Taiwan managed to rise modestly today while shares in ...

With the second lawsuit filed by ex-model and actress Shantel Jackson on Thursday against former fiancé Floyd Mayweather Jr for physical assault, comparison becomes inevitable with former boxing champion Mike Tyson.

The Australian sharemarket is making up for around half of yesterday's 0.36 per cent tumble following choppy global trade overnight. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.2 per cent, with only the energy, industrial and tech industries losing ground. Markets are closed in Hong Kong and South Korea for holidays today. Hong Kong has the region's second biggest market while South Korea is Asia's seventh largest.

There is tittle to report from overnight trade; the S&P fell from record all-time highs, which is not surprising considering the market is trading at 18.3 times last reported earnings.

A small meteorite his Managua on Saturday night, creating a 12-metre wide and 5-metre deep crater near the international airport of Nicaragua. There were no injuries caused by the meteorite, which probably broke off from an asteroid that passed close to Earth.

The new iPhone 6 from Apple, which launches on Tuesday, Sept 9, would use near field communication (NFC) and tokenisation technologies for payment initiatives. The iWatch would also offers the two technologies, the Web site Bankinginnovation.net cites sources from the Cupertino-based firm.

The Australian government has a taxpayer-paid relationship counselling programme that includes sex advice from no less than Prime Minister Tony Abbott. However, reports say that some Aussies are finding it hard to swallow lessons on intimacy from a man who studied how to be a priest and applies conservative Catholic standards to government policy on issues like same-sex marriage.

A group of anti-alcohol abuse criticised football superstar David Beckham for his endorsement of a local whisky brand in the UK.

Christine Stapleton, a columnist at PsychCentral.com and a recovered alcoholic, had to make a big decision over a decade ago to fix her alcohol problem. One that involved accepting that she was depressed and had to enter therapy.

Most boxing experts foresee Floyd Mayweather Jr would still keep his unbeaten boxing record of 0 loss and up his wins to 47 when Money May meets Argentinean boxer Marcos Maidana on Sept 14 for a rematch.

The Australian sharemarket kicked off the trading week in the red, with a record close in US equities on Friday night not enough to boostlocal markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell by 0.4 per cent and remains below 5600pts. Volume was light with only $3.6bn worth of shares traded. Public holidays in China, South Korea and Taiwan kept markets in the region quiet, with shares in Japan up 0.25 per cent, while New Zealand's NZX50 rose by 0.15 per cent.