Business News
INSIDE MARKETS
Aussie shares up 0.8%
Australian shares closed up around 0.8 per cent today following gains on Wall Street overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 put on 37 points or 0.82 per cent to 4532.7. The All Ords was 36.2 points or 0.8 per cent higher at 4563. In mining, BHP Billiton gained 0.41 or 1.08 per cent to $38.32 and Rio Tinto put on $0.88 or...read more >
US stocks gain over 2.5%
US stocks jumped more than 2.5 per cent overnight. The Dow gained 254.75 points, or 2.54 per cent, to 10,269.47. The Nasdaq put on 62.81...read more >
NEWS STORIES
Good times ahead for retailersCould there be a light at the end of the tunnel for retailers? New data shows sales were flat in July after six months of decline. While...read more >
Phone bills add up
Telco bills that contain incorrect charges can really add up if you own a company with tens or hundreds or thousands of phones. But one...read more >
Election watch 2010: How votes work
Why are the votes from the recent election still flowing in and why did it take so long for them to be counted? To find out, Phil Diak...read more >
Experts weigh in on the likelihood of a double dip
With the stock market seemingly locked into yoyo mode and alarmists warning a double dip recession is in train, how scared should...read more >
Terrific Tuesday surpasses expectations
Retail trade rose by 0.7 per cent in July after a 0.4 per cent increase in June. Non-food retailing was up 0.9 per cent in the month....read more >
Election Watch 2010: where did it go wrong?
He retired electorally undefeated – so what’s former QLD premier Peter Beattie’s take on the current political circus?...read more >
Volatile times
Are we out of the volatile stock market woods, or will we fall victim to the traditional hex hovering over the stock market in September...read more >
New order: the Greens to hold balance of power
From July 2011, the Australian Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate. This note outlines some of the Greens policies,...read more >
Petrol at six-month low, while new homes at 19-month lows
The Australian Institute of Petroleum reports that the average Australian petrol price fell by 0.8 cents last week to a six-month low of...read more >
Two-speed economy – mining drives profits and sales
Mining profits soar. Company profits rose by 18.9 per cent in the June quarter, led by the mining sector. Excluding mining, profits rose...read more >
Profit wrap: Aussie companies cashed up
The profit-reporting season has largely concluded, although there are around 24 of the smaller ASX 200 companies (mainly resources...read more >
No limits for V Australia
As Virgin Blue shares soar, it seems the sky’s the limit for this carrier – CEO John Borghetti announces V Australia’s...read more >
Fashion world
An icon in the Australian fashion world, Carla Zampatti, launched her first collection in 1965. Now, her daughter Bianca Spender has...read more >
Mining investment to lead the way
Businesses have pushed spending plans out. Australian companies cut investment in the June quarter, with factors like softness in...read more >
The double life of John Elias
As Ben Cousins’ fall from grace makes for prime time viewing, former rugby league star John Elias takes responsibility for his role...read more >
Australian economy OK
How is the US economy faring at the moment? To discuss this and more, BIS Shrapnel’s Dr Frank Gelber joins Peter Switzer on his Sky...read more >
View all stories from the Latest News section >
THE DAILY WORD with Peter Switzer
Wall Street heads north
What a difference a day makes, especially when the doomsday merchants are brought to book by hard data. And even the Yanks got into the better economic readings, with manufacturing continuing to defy the double dip pessimists, helping the S&P 500 index to rack up its best percentage move since 7 July. The broad market index put on over 30 points to get to an important level of... read more >
Wall Street shuffle
Another day on Wall Street and while there was little advancement, there was no substantial sell off which shows maybe the double dip...read more >
How long does a rally last?
After a pretty substantial fall on Wall Street overnight, just after a big rise during the trading day before, the question has to be...read more >
Bumpy ride ahead
My Saturday morning was either going to be made or broken by two big news stories out of the US. The first was the second quarter GDP for...read more >
Dow under 10,000
Wall Street has taken us into worrying territory with the Dow finishing below the psychologically important 10,000-level. This finish...read more >
A rise, but why?
Wall Street limped across the line to end in positive territory but it wasn’t a bad effort given the fact that new housing sales...read more >
The ABC of not being scared
On a day when Wall Street has set us up for a pretty rough time on the stock market after existing home sales fell a whopping 27.2 per...read more >
Missing a reason to buy
Wall Street’s stock market players clearly don’t have strong reasons to buy and it explains why so much cash is parked in...read more >
Hung stocks
Late last week my colleague on Sky News Business Channel, Mike Willesee, asked what the consequence might be for the stock market given...read more >
Economic problems again
Yesterday I suggested sentiment might be turning and it was, but unfortunately the US economy isn’t turning and until it does we...read more >
Is sentiment turning?
My charts guy Lance Lai called me yesterday afternoon and when he does this sort of thing it’s not to see how I am, but it’s...read more >
BHP on Wall Street
Wall Street reacted well to a good industrial production numbers and BHP-Billiton’s takeover offer for Canadian fertiliser business...read more >
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Market Summary
| Index | Current | Change | % Change |
| ALL ORDS | 4563.0 | 36.2 | 0.80 % |
| ASX 200 | 4532.7 | 37.0 | 0.82 % |
| HANG SENG | 20859.8 | 235.9 | 1.14 % |
| NIKKEI | 9062.8 | 135.8 | 1.52 % |
| Index | Current | Change | % Change |
| FTSE | 5352.9 | -13.6 | -0.25 % |
| DAX 30 | 6054.7 | -29.2 | -0.48 % |
| CAC 40 | 3598.2 | -25.7 | -0.71 % |
| Index | Current | Change | % Change |
| DOW | 10269.5 | 254.8 | 2.54 % |
| NASDAQ | 2176.8 | 62.8 | 2.97 % |
| S&P 500 | 1080.3 | 31.0 | 2.95 % |
