Australia shares see biggest one-day drop in 7 weeks on U.S. fiscal crisis

(Adds analysis, quotes, stocks on the move)

SYDNEY, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Australian shares slid 1.3 percent from five-year highs on Monday, their biggest one-day drop since early August, after Wall Street fell on concerns over looming fiscal deadlines.

The Big Four banks lost ground in a broadbased sell-off. Westpac Banking Corp lost 1.5 percent while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group dropped 1.6 percent.

Analysts said that despite a fall in the session, the banks were trading close to fair-value estimates, driven by growing profits and dividends.

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 70.4 points to 5,236.7 by 0155 GMT, its biggest one-day fall since August 7. The benchmark edged 0.2 percent higher on Friday to hit a five-year high.

The local bourse took its lead from U.S. stocks, which declined on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow posting their first weekly drop in four, as Democrat and Republican lawmakers struggled to agree an emergency funding bill to avert a U.S. government shutdown that could start on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama warned the U.S. Congress against a government shutdown as lawmakers wrangled over the bill that some Republicans want to use to defund Obama's healthcare reform law.

A handful of defensives also lost ground with blood products maker CSL Ltd tumbled 1.6 percent and top telecommunications giant Telstra Corporation Ltd shed 0.7 percent. Consumer staples retailer Wesfarmers Ltd lost 1.1 percent.

However, a lift of around 1 percent in gold prices helped cap broader losses as investors sought safe-havens, driven by a possible shutdown of U.S. government operations. Newcrest Mining Ltd climbed 1.7 percent while Medusa Mining Ltd rallied 2.5 percent.

"The Australian and New Zealand share market is trading around fair value following recent strong gains," said Andrew Doherty, head of equities at research investment firm Morningstar, in a note to clients.

"The Australian economy is softening but the platform is in place for mild recovery during 2014, helped by low interest rates and improving consumer confidence."

Elsewhere, China's factory sector grew in September, suggesting Asia's economic powerhouse is starting to turn the corner, though a firm rebound remains elusive, further dampening sentiment on the local benchmark index.

OZ Minerals Ltd jumped 3 percent to A$4.54, but fell from early highs as the copper miner said it had not been approached by Glencore Xstrata with any proposal after a British newspaper said Glencore was weighing a 750 million pound ($1.2 billion) bid.

Mirabela Nickel Ltd slumped 28 percent to all-time lows of A$0.02 after credit ratings agency Moody's placed its CAA1 rating on review for a downgrade and after the company said its sales agreement with Votorantim will terminate at the end of November.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.8 percent or 37.5 points to 4,745.2.

(Reporting by Thuy Ong; Editing by Eric Meijer)

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Lorde Shares Thoughts On Selena Gomez / Slams ‘Come & Get It’

 As she continues to welcome the kind of critical acclaim many a star could only dream of, Lorde has shared her thoughts on Pop sensation Selena Gomez.

What she said on the Disney star?

Find out below…

In a recent interview arranged to promote her #1 single ‘Royals’, the teen sensation shared:

“I love pop music on a sonic level. But I’m a feminist and the theme of her song [Come & Get It] is, ‘When you’re ready come and get it from me.’ I’m sick of women being portrayed this way.”

Source.

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The end of privacy? Everyone worries about data leaks, but shares everything anyway

Businesses are not transparent enough about how they use customers' personal data and regulation preventing misuse of such information is weak, research has found — but that doesn't mean consumers will stop sharing their details.

Few respondents to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit said they believe their data is well protected by the companies that are demanding ever more private information from them: 57 percent said they considered their personal data was "not secure at all" in the hands of social networks.

At the other end of the scale, banks came out as the most trusted holders of personal information — ahead, perhaps surprisingly, of doctors' surgeries and friends and family.

Nine out of ten respondents said they were worried that their data would be compromised and then used to steal money from them, while eight out of ten were worried their personal data would be used to target marketing campaigns at them.

Michael Harte, CIO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, sees this issue growing in importance. "Customers increasingly want more control of their data. They want transparency on where it is, who has it and with whom it will be shared. They want to know what it will be used for," he told the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Consumers also feel unprotected by the authorities: 75 percent said regulation preventing the misuse of personal data is not strong enough. Nellie Kroes, the EC's digital commissioner, told the researchers that these concerns are exacerbated by a lack of knowledge. "It is clear that one of the biggest problems is transparency and complexity," she said.

But the report said that while fears of potential abuse abound, this is not stopping consumers from sharing data: 84 percent of survey respondents belong to social networks, and 34 percent said they are more willing to share basic personal information online than they were three years ago, compared with the 23 percent who said the opposite, according to the survey of 758 internet users.

Companies that earn the right to use consumer data, and do so fairly, could gain a significant competitive edge in the long-term. Building consumer relationships based on trust will help companies gain access to more personal data, and help them to outperform competitors, said Denis McCauley, editorial director at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Consumer concern about privacy had led some to warn that — if privacy concerns are not addressed — a privacy black hole could emerge and undermine the internet economy, which is based on the permanent and easy availability of personal data that can be harvested, repackaged and resold.

However, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit report only 38 percent of respondents said they had stopped dealing with a company after it suffered a data breach, suggestion that tolerance of such events is greater than some may have thought. 

View the original article here

The end of privacy? Everyone worries about data leaks, but shares everything anyway

Businesses are not transparent enough about how they use customers' personal data and regulation preventing misuse of such information is weak, research has found — but that doesn't mean consumers will stop sharing their details.

Few respondents to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit said they believe their data is well protected by the companies that are demanding ever more private information from them: 57 percent said they considered their personal data was "not secure at all" in the hands of social networks.

At the other end of the scale, banks came out as the most trusted holders of personal information — ahead, perhaps surprisingly, of doctors' surgeries and friends and family.

Nine out of ten respondents said they were worried that their data would be compromised and then used to steal money from them, while eight out of ten were worried their personal data would be used to target marketing campaigns at them.

Michael Harte, CIO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, sees this issue growing in importance. "Customers increasingly want more control of their data. They want transparency on where it is, who has it and with whom it will be shared. They want to know what it will be used for," he told the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Consumers also feel unprotected by the authorities: 75 percent said regulation preventing the misuse of personal data is not strong enough. Nellie Kroes, the EC's digital commissioner, told the researchers that these concerns are exacerbated by a lack of knowledge. "It is clear that one of the biggest problems is transparency and complexity," she said.

But the report said that while fears of potential abuse abound, this is not stopping consumers from sharing data: 84 percent of survey respondents belong to social networks, and 34 percent said they are more willing to share basic personal information online than they were three years ago, compared with the 23 percent who said the opposite, according to the survey of 758 internet users.

Companies that earn the right to use consumer data, and do so fairly, could gain a significant competitive edge in the long-term. Building consumer relationships based on trust will help companies gain access to more personal data, and help them to outperform competitors, said Denis McCauley, editorial director at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Consumer concern about privacy had led some to warn that — if privacy concerns are not addressed — a privacy black hole could emerge and undermine the internet economy, which is based on the permanent and easy availability of personal data that can be harvested, repackaged and resold.

However, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit report only 38 percent of respondents said they had stopped dealing with a company after it suffered a data breach, suggestion that tolerance of such events is greater than some may have thought. 

View the original article here