Weekly US jobless aid applications drop

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has fallen sharply for a fourth straight week, in a sign the US job market may be improving.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months. It is the second-lowest total this year.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop indicates that companies are cutting fewer jobs. But employers also need to increase hiring to rapidly push down the 7.7 per cent unemployment rate.

Applications spiked five weeks ago because of Superstorm Sandy. The storm's impact has faded. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 27,000 to 381,500.

Before the storm, applications had fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 this year.

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Central banks extend currency swaps

THE world's five top central banks have agreed to extend temporary currency swap arrangements by a year, the European Central Bank says.

The swap facilities were one of a range of emergency measures used by central banks to prevent the financial system from failing at the height of the financial crisis.

The ECB, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank decided on "an extension of the existing temporary US dollar liquidity swap arrangements until February, 1 2014," the ECB said in a statement on Thursday.

The swap arrangements had previously been authorised until February 1 next year.

The five central banks also decided to extend bilateral swap lines in their own currencies by a year to February 1, 2014, the ECB statement said.

These swaps enable the provision of liquidity in each jurisdiction in any of their currencies, "should market conditions so warrant", it continued.

Swap lines enable central banks to deliver specific currency funding to banks, businesses and other institutions in their jurisdiction during times of market stress.

The move "will enable the eurosystem to continue to provide euros to those central banks when required and to provide to its counterparties, when necessary, Japanese yen, pounds sterling, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars (in addition to the existing liquidity-providing operations in US dollars)," the ECB explained.

The Bank of Japan would consider extending both sets of swap arrangements at its next monetary policy meeting, the ECB added.

The ECB will also continue to conduct regular US dollar liquidity-providing operations with maturities of about one week and three months "until further notice", the central bank said.

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US stocks edge up in opening trade

US stocks have edged higher as investors digest a batch of mostly positive economic data on jobs, retail sales and inflation.

In the first five minutes of Thursday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.21 points (0.08 per cent) to 13,256.66.

The broad-market S&P 500 advanced 0.65 point (0.05 per cent) to 1,429.13, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.66 (0.09 per cent) to 3,016.48.

The "inability to rally after the Fed announcement yesterday has taken some steam out of the market, which has been in rally mode since mid-November," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

"It is understandable given the Grinch-like message from the Fed that participants shouldn't expect a meaningful pickup in economic activity soon whether we go over the fiscal cliff or not," he said.

On Wednesday, after a surge on the Fed's announcement of more bond purchases to support the sluggish economy, the Dow fell 0.02 per cent, breaking a five-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.04 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 0.28 per cent.

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Syrian regime 'approaching collapse': NATO

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad's regime is approaching collapse and he should take steps to begin talks on a political transition, NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen says.

"I think the regime in Damascus is approaching the regime of collapse ... it is only a question of time," Rasmussen said on Thursday, adding Assad should "initiate a process that leads to the accommodation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people".

"I urge the regime to stop violence, to realise what the actual situation is," he said, as Moscow signalled for the first time that its long-time ally in Damascus could be losing a bloody conflict which has so far cost more than 42,000 lives.

His comments came amid a growing perception the tide has turned, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov saying the rebels had made important gains after getting increased external support.

"As for preparing for victory by the opposition, this, of course, cannot be excluded," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying.

"You need to look the facts in the eyes - the government regime is losing more and more control over a large part of the country's territory."

Asked if the reported use of Scud missiles was a sign of Assad's desperation, Rasmussen said he could not judge the motive but "the use of such indiscriminate weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people.

"It is reckless and I strongly condemn it," Rasmussen added.

The Scud, fired into Israel and Saudi Arabia by Iraq's Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War, can deliver a payload of 3500 kilos over a range of 200 kilometres or more, defence analysts say.

Karim Bitar, research director at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), said the regime's use of Scuds was an indication it was bracing for a decisive battle.

"The battle for Damascus is about to begin and this battle could change the rules of the game," he said.

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Residents urged to photograph king tides

KING tides will begin their twice-a-year run up the NSW coast early on Friday morning - and residents are being asked to get out their cameras.

The tides will begin in Eden about 8.30am (AEDT), reach Sydney at 9.33am and hit Newcastle by 9.39am.

Environmental organisation Green Cross hopes to use the event to draw attention to rising sea levels.

Green Cross CEO Mara Bun is asking coastal residents to photograph their local king tides and upload them to help create a digital picture of future sea levels.

"Through gathering and sharing visual data we raise awareness around Australia and can adapt for the future," she said.

The project will become a permanent record of environmental change, with 40 local councils across NSW, Queensland and Tasmania offering funding and digital support.

In 2009, the business districts of Ballina, Woy Woy, Bateman's Bay, and Carrington were photographed during a king tide as they were inundated with between 30 and 50cm of seawater.

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Suicide bomb targets Afghan NATO airbase

A SUICIDE car bomber has attacked a NATO airbase in southern Afghanistan just hours after the US Defence Secretary left, killing two civilians, wounding 15 and injuring four foreign soldiers.

There was no indication that the attack was connected with defence chief Leon Panetta's visit, a US spokesman said on Thursday.

"I can confirm that insurgents detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) in the vicinity of Kandahar airfield.

"Currently ISAF officials are on the scene collecting facts and assessing the situation and as information becomes available we will release it as appropriate," the spokesman said.

"I have no information at this time that this incident was associated with the visit of the secretary of defence. The attack occurred after the secretary returned to Kabul."

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to AFP, but did not link it to Panetta's visit.

Panetta was due to hold a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai later in the day.

"The suicide bomber detonated his car as an ISAF convoy was entering the Kandahar airfield," Kandahar provincial police chief General Abdul Razeq told AFP.

"As a result of this suicide attack two civilians have been killed, and 15 civilians and four ISAF soldiers have been injured."

A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed the attack, without giving details of any ISAF casualties. It is ISAF policy not to disclose the number of its personnel wounded in any attack.

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US producer prices fall in November

US producer prices have fallen for the second straight month in November, the Commerce Department reports, losing 0.8 per cent in a sign inflation pressures remain muted in the economy.

The main pull downward was a 4.6 per cent drop in energy prices; food prices rose 1.3 per cent.

Stripped of those two volatile components, the rate was an increase of just 0.1 per cent, the department said on Thursday.

Year-on-year, the producer price index for finished goods was up just 1.5 per cent, after three months at or above two per cent.

Inflation has become less of a concern for policymakers despite four years of extremely easy-money policies of the central bank.

On Wednesday the Federal Reserve underscored that point by tying its interest rates more closely to the jobless rate, saying that as long as medium-term inflation expectations remained moderate - below 2.5 per cent - it would not begin raising its benchmark interest rate until unemployment fell below 6.5 per cent.

The jobless rate was 7.7 per cent in November.

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