Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: Investors have had their best gains of the week, after financial and health shares offset losses in materials and energy. The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index closed higher by 28.7 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 6715.3 on Thursday..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: The Dow and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Thursday in anticipation of President-elect Joe Biden’s pandemic aid proposal to jump-start a struggling economy after data highlighted weakening labor market conditions..... [more]

• North/South Americas Market Report: North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 1.06% while Mexico's IPC is up 0.34% and U.S.'s S&P 500 is up 0.16%..... [more]

• European Market Report: European markets finished higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.84% while Germany's DAX is up 0.35% and France's CAC 40 is up 0.21%..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.97% and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.85%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.91%..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Josh Frydenberg is confident the economy will continue to strengthen and that the unemployment rate will fall further, even when temporary support measures like the JobKeeper wage subsidy end in March..... [more]

• New figures from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show the number of job vacancies in Australia has increased by 23 per cent over the November quarter. Those figures show the country has begun to eclipse the level of job vacancies recorded pre-COVID-19 in February 2020..... [more]

• Treasurer warns super rise will hit wages. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has branded Labor “flat-earthers” for denying that increasing the superannuation guarantee will hit wage growth..... [more]

• The managing director of Australia's largest listed investment company has expressed caution about the deluge of new sharemarket listings on the ASX, warning against investments in unproven businesses with unclear growth prospects..... [more]

• With insolvency protections being wound back and JobKeeper ending in just two months, accountants are being prepared to deal with a wave of traumatised small business owners who have to wind up..... [more]

• Tyranna Resources non-executive director shows faith in company's gold strategy with on-market purchases.... [more]

• Auris Minerals (AUR) has announced that Westgold Resources (WGX) will begin reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Forrest Deposit. Forrest lies 130 kilometres north of Meekatharra in the Bryah Basin in Western Australia. Westgold holds 100 per cent of the gold rights and 20 per cent of all other minerals..... [more]

• Metro Mining aims to restart Bauxite Hills mine after wet season in line with improving market outlook.... [more]

• Emmerson Resources sets the stage for a strong and busy year in 2021. The company is working on various prospective projects in the Northern Territory and New South Wales, some of which are expected to generate positive newsflow in coming weeks..... [more]

• Sultan Resources (SLZ) has kicked off a diamond drilling program at its Tucklan project in New South Wales to drill-test some potential gold targets..... [more]

• Set to be one of WA’s next gold miners, Calidus Resources has been buoyed by a clutch of solid RC infill drilling results at its under-construction stand-alone Warrawoona gold mining and processing operation in WA’s East Pilbara region that have exceeded the project’s average ore reserves grade of one gram per tonne gold..... [more]

• Pantoro achieves free cashflow of $7.6 million during December quarter from Halls Creek Project.... [more]

• Rio Tinto extends NZ aluminium smelter.... [more]

• Emails show Yeelirrie uranium mine approved a month before 2019 election after pressure from Cameco.... [more]

• YPB Group's (YPB) share price has soared amid an announcement on a $1 million master services agreement (MSA) with Legitifli. The product authenticating business announced it has signed a five-year agreement relating to its smartphone-based authentication solution MotifMicro..... [more]

• Vmoto secures A$13 million B2B order for electric scooters. The company’s B2B strategy is supported by European initiatives to encourage electric vehicles, COVID-19 impact, which led to a reduction in public transport use, and a global increase in use of home delivery services..... [more]

• An Australian winery had its luxury product counterfeited by Chinese fraudsters who sold cheap wine in fancy-looking bottles, the company said. Chinese cops busted the operation, which used bottles made to look like they were genuine Penfolds products, according to a Treasury Wine Estates spokeswoman..... [more]

• Australian cherry growers have hit back at China’s claims their fruit is inferior to other countries, as the sector hopes to avoid being the next target in Beijing’s trade war. It follows a report in Chinese state-owned media that the taste and quality of Australian cherries had dropped, prompting buyers to turn to other countries’ products..... [more]

• While farmers in India fight three controversial free-market agriculture laws, some experts say Australia could benefit from the landmark legislation to reform India's massive farm sector..... [more]

• Vegetable growers in Victoria's Lindenow Valley have had to dump $150,000 worth of celery crops due to a drastic shortage of seasonal workers caused by the COVID-19 travel bans..... [more]

• ASX market darling Pro Medicus surges on breakthrough US contract.... [more]

• Cyclopharm (CYC) has announced its Technegas product is on track to receive United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the first half of 2021. Technegas is the company's lung ventilation imaging agent. The product is taken by a patient during a medical imaging procedure so the images accurately demonstrate the lung function..... [more]

• Australia's financial watchdog has drastically reduced the sum of money it says was sent from the Vatican to Australia, the Vatican says, after it earlier reported a huge figure that raised suspicions of money laundering..... [more]

• Opinion - Elizabeth Knight: Australia's diplomatic divorce with China is getting more expensive. Australia's largest independent coal producer, Whitehaven Coal, decided years ago to steer clear of exporting to China – a market that didn’t demand its particular brand of product..... [more]

• Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: Dr Copper's prognosis for the global economy is positive.... [more]

World Business News

• President-elect Joe Biden will unveil a stimulus package proposal on Thursday designed to jump-start the economy during the coronavirus pandemic with an economic lifeline that could exceed $1.5 trillion and help minority communities..... [more]

• US unemployment claims jump to 965,000 as virus takes toll.... [more]

• China's leader has called on Starbucks' former chairman Howard Schultz to help promote US-China relations, according to Chinese state media. State-run news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had written to Schultz, encouraging the American billionaire and the global coffee giant he ran for years to improve economic and trade ties..... [more]

• Companies push incentives to get workers vaccinated. As vaccinations continue across the U.S., some companies are offering financial incentives to encourage their workers to get the shots..... [more]

• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: Trump ban was right but sets a 'dangerous' precedent.... [more]

• New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday that three contracts with the Trump Organisation would be severed, amid accusations that outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump incited a riot at the Capitol last week..... [more]

• Intel Corp. won praise for replacing its chief executive as multiple analysts upgraded the chip giant’s stock. Shares of Intel INTC, 3.71% were up 5.1% in Thursday morning trading, building on gains of 7.0% from Wednesday’s session after the company announced that VMware Inc. VMW, 1.71% Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger would be taking over Intel’s top post..... [more]

• Delta Air Lines closed the books on the worst year in its history. Thursday, Delta reported a record $6.8 billion loss for 2020, excluding special items. .... [more]

• Wells Fargo & Co is in exclusive talks to sell its asset management business, which manages more than $607 billion on behalf of customers, to a private equity consortium led by GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners LP, according to people familiar with the matter..... [more]

• Signal users surge amid WhatsApp privacy concerns.... [more]

• BlackRock Inc’s, quarterly results topped analysts’ expectations on Thursday, buoyed by a rising stock market that boosted the firm’s assets under management to a record high $8.68 trillion, further widening its lead against peers..... [more]

• A luxury car manufacturer has been ordered to destroy a range of clothing merchandise after losing a trademark battle with a fashion company. In 2019 the High Court ruled Bentley Motors had infringed the trademark of Manchester-based Bentley Clothing..... [more]

• Norwegian axes long-haul flights and cuts 1,100 Gatwick jobs.... [more]

• Pimlico Plumbers will introduce a “no jab, no job” policy requiring all of its workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Charlie Mullins, Pimlico’s founder and former chief executive, now chairman, said the company’s lawyers were drafting new employment contracts for its 400-strong workforce to include the vaccine requirement, although employment lawyers questioned whether it would be legally enforceable..... [more]

• Daimler to cut production over chip shortage: Handelsblatt.... [more]

• The German economy, Europe’s largest, shrank by 5% in the pandemic year 2020, ending a decade of growth as lockdowns wiped out much business and consumer activity..... [more]

• French government hardens stance against Carrefour takeover.... [more]

• China 2020 exports up despite virus; surplus surges to $535B.... [more]

• One of China's most prominent e-commerce companies is facing intense public backlash over allegations that it overworks its employees. It's a sign that scrutiny of the country's tech champions is broadening, and could become even more intense..... [more]

• China's Huawei backtracks after filing for patent to identify Uyghur faces.... [more]

• Toyota Motor Corp settled a lengthy Justice Department civil probe into its delayed filing of emissions-related defect reports for $180 million, the government said on Thursday..... [more]

• Carlos Ghosn hid part of his compensation at Nissan because he feared the French government would force him out of Renault if it discovered how much he earned, an executive at the Japanese carmaker told a Tokyo court on Thursday..... [more]

• Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: China acts quickly to stymie Biden trade alliance with Europe.... [more]

• Opinion - Gad Levanon: Prepare for a jobs boom in 2021. The US economy and labor market, still far from fully recovered, are now bracing for a terrible, virus-spreading winter..... [more]