AMP Limited

SEEK Limited (ASX:SEK) (OTCMKTS:SKLTY) today announced that Vanessa Wallace has been appointed to the Board as a non-executive Director, effective from 1 March 2017.

Asian Activities Report for December 9, 2011 includes: Shanghai Electric Group (SHA:601727) (HKG:2727) has signed agreements with Siemens (NYSE:SI) to jointly invest over 165 million euros in two joint venture companies in China for the development, manufacturing and sales of wind power equipments; Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited (HKG:0392) says that its subsidiary Green Industry (Qinghai) has signed a contracting agreement for a 20 megawatt photovoltaic grid-tied power generation project in Qinghai Province in China; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (TYO:8306) will form a strategic business and capital alliance with AMP Limited (ASX:AMP); Honda Motor (TYO:7267) says that two of its auto plants in Ohio have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2011 Energy Star award.

AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) says it is still interested in acquiring the AXA Asia Pacific Holdings' (ASX:AXA) Australia and New Zealand business while the Australian competition watchdog did not block its proposal.

The Australian stock market has opened stronger led by financial shares, as Wall Street rebounded after investors reassessed the potential effects of the fraud case against Goldman Sachs. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index and the broader All Ordinaries index both were up 0.5 per cent in early trade.

The Australian sharemarket fell on Thursday as investors digested some mixed earnings results. Investors also managed to take profit for the market after two days gains. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 13 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 4654.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index gave up 12.9 points, or 0.28 per cent to 4673.9.

The Australian share market lost much of its early gains after NAB's surprise bid for the local and New Zealand assets of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. Woodside's capital raising also gave the market a pullback. At the close, the local market was slightly higher. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 8.4 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 4670.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 13.5 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4689.6 points.

Dubai yesterday said it had received US$10 billion in financing from Abu Dhabi to pay part of the debt held by Dubai World and its property unit Nakheel. The news prompted the Australian market into positive territory in late trade. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 0.4 per cent, at 4654, after earlier falling as low as 4608.3. The broader-based All Ordinaries index climbed 16.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4668.2.

On Friday, the US stocks were boosted by the encouraging earnings from major retailers and The Walt Disney Co. A record number of U.S. companies beat earnings expectations in the third quarter. This week a new round of economic data including retail sales, inflation readings and housing starts will be the focus after most corporate results already reported.

US stocks overnight closed at a new high for the year as the G20 finance ministers and central bankers pledged to keep stimulus measures until a recovery was certain. Dow jumped more than 200 points for the session, with 29 of the index's 30 components finished in the green.

Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.