Oceania
Australian dollar recovers as unemployment figures went down
The Australian dollar has slightly recovered after Australian employers created more jobs than what economists forecasted last month, pulling down the unemployment rate. According to Bloomberg, the Australian dollar was at 69.70 U.S. cents as of 11:38 am in Sydney on Thursday, down by 0.7% from the previous day. It had been at 69.53 cents just before the statistics bureau announced the number of employed in Australia climbed to 17,400 in August. An increase of 5,000 jobs is expected by analysts, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The rate for the jobless went down from 6.3% to 6.2 % in July.
Dollar, bond yields up on Fed rate risk
Asian shares markets got off to a watchful start on Wednesday as the mounting risks of a hike in U.S. interest rates as early as next month lifted the dollar and sovereign bond yields, pressuring currencies across the region.
Australian state could change mining approval rules, impact Rio Tinto project
The Australian state of New South Wales has proposed changing its mining approval process to give greater consideration to environmental concerns, potentially threatening a colliery expansion planned by mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd.
Germany's BMW among suitors for $6.4 billion ANZ car finance unit -source
Germany's BMW AG (BMWG.DE), Australia's Macquarie Group (MQG.AX) and a host of U.S. private equity firms are expected to bid for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's (ANZ.AX) more than $6 billion car and equipment loan book, a source said on Monday.