THE NEWS WRAP: Facebook float set for “first half of next year”

The Federal Government has insisted it is hopeful that Qantas will come to a deal with key unions ahead of the looming deadline for a resolution of its ongoing industrial dispute.

Under a Fair Work Australia ruling, the airline and unions have to come to an agreement by midnight tonight. If they don’t, the workplace umpire will intervene to create a binding deal.

Federal transport minister Anthony Albanese said there was no reason why an agreement couldn’t be reached, but added that both parties needed to “act like adults”.

Facebook float set for “first half of next year”

Mark Zuckerberg will choose to float Facebook early next year, according to one of the social network’s leading investors.

Reid Hoffman, who is also the co-founder of LinkedIn, said that he expects Facebook to go public in the “first half of next year”.

Analysts predict it could be the largest tech IPO in history, generating a valuation of around $100 billion.

China tipped to be top economy by 2027

The US is set to be overtaken by China as the world’s leading economy by 2027, a high-profile economist has forecast.

Jim O’Neill, head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “Since 2001, China’s GDP has risen fourfold, from $US1.5 trillion ($A1.51 trillion) to $US6 trillion.”

“Economically speaking, China has created three new Chinas in the past decade.”

Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 25.50 points, or 0.2%, to 11,796.23 on Friday. The Australian dollar remained below parity, at 99.9 US cents.