The UK’s trade deficit narrowed in January, official figures show, but its goods trade gap with the EU widened to a record level. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total trade deficit – covering goods and services – shrank to £3.5bn from £3.7bn in December. The deficit in goods alone narrowed to £10.29bn – down from £10.45bn the Read More

Stocks in Japan and China led gains on Monday, extending a rally on Wall Street which closed at its highest level so far this year on Friday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 finished the session up 1.75% to 17,233.75 points. Investor sentiment in Japan was given a boost as official machinery orders data showed a 15% jump in January from December, beating Read More

European shares rose on Monday as funding plans from the European Central Bank for the region’s lenders buoyed markets, while Italian banking stocks surged on the prospect of a possible rescue deal. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had climbed 2.7 percent on Friday, was up 1 percent while the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also advanced 1.2 Read More

Brisbane is falling in love with apartments – and it’s creating a dramatic shift in the way Brisbanites live. In the inner-southern suburbs, CoreLogic RP Data’s median unit price of $688,750 outstrips the median house price by almost $80,000. Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella says many significant apartment projects are now well under way. “Like many inner-city Read More

Lower oil output in the US will help to stabilise oil prices this year, the IEA said There is evidence that oil prices are stabilising and could even begin to rise again, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. It said lower oil output in the US and other countries was helping to curb the glut in the supply of Read More

India will delay opening commercial coal mining to private companies due to lower-than-expected demand for the fuel, a government official said, which could make it difficult for the country to meet ambitious output targets. The world’s third-largest coal importer wants private companies to contribute about a third of an annual production target of 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020, but the Read More

Only two inner-western Sydney suburbs remain under the million dollar mark, new data reveals. Sydenham and Homebush West still have six figure median house prices, according to CoreLogic RP Data. The median house price in Sydenham is $927,500, an increase of 11.4% in the 12 months to November 2015, and in Homebush West it is up 4% to $980,500. This two-bedroom home at Read More

One of the northern beaches’ largest and most prestigious family estates has hit the market for the first time ever, and is tipped to smash the 2016 sales record out of the park. The sprawling property at 1-3 Amiens Rd, Clontarf, is part of the estate of the late Transfield founder Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, an Italian migrant who came to Australia Read More

India’s wholesale prices fell for a 16th straight month in February, declining an annual 0.91 percent, driven down by tumbling oil prices, government data showed on Monday. The pace of fall was faster than a 0.27 percent annual decline forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In January, the index fell a provisional 0.90 percent. The wholesale fuel prices dropped Read More

China’s industrial output has slowed to its weakest growth since the financial crisis, prompting concerns over the global recovery. Production rose by 5.4% in January and February – the worst since 2008. China is trying to refocus its economy from investment and export-led growth to consumer spending. UK finance minister George Osborne said China’s slowdown is one of a “dangerous Read More