AAP

Families across Australia are expected to save an average of $97 on their power bills over the next three years.

The alleged biggest public sector theft in Western Australia's history has prompted an independent review into the Department of Communities' financial dealings.

The Australian share market is slightly higher, with a drop in the healthcare sector trimming some of the index's gains after energy stocks powered ahead in early trade.

Austal sweetener in submarine tussle

Oil prices rose more than 1.0 per cent on Friday and posted sharp weekly gains after OPEC and its allies agreed to deepen output cuts by 500,000 barrels per day in early 2020.

Gold slid 1.0 per cent on Friday as strong US jobs data renewed bets the Federal Reserve would stand pat on interest rates and also boosted demand for riskier assets while supply-squeezed palladium soared to a new record high.

The Australian share market has finished a turbulent week on a quiet note as it reclaimed a little bit more of the ground lost during two days of sharp midweek losses.

St Barbara managing director and chief executive Bob Vassie is retiring and will be replaced at the ASX-listed gold miner by Newcrest's Craig Jetson.

Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston has unveiled a raft of strategies to crack down on wage theft, while at the same time a national Fair Work sting at capital city hospitality hotspots revealed 75 per cent of businesses were breaking the law.

The Australian share market has inched higher, outperforming Wall Street's tepid gains overnight.

EPA’s mine backdown

Oil futures were little changed overnight, supported by expectations that OPEC will deepen output curbs but pressured by the prospect that gas condensate will be excluded from cuts for non-member producers.

Gold edged higher overnight as uncertainty emerging from mixed messages on the US-China trade negotiations offset headwinds from positive economic data out of the United States while deficit-hit palladium extended a record surge.

The Australian share market has rebounded following two days of steep losses, with every sector posting gains.

Scott Morrison is reducing the number of federal government departments and sacking five senior bureaucrats in a major shake-up of the public service.

Caltex Australia is planning a $500 million capital raising and the sale of an initial 25 petrol stations for $136 million as it contends with an unsolicited approach from its Canadian suitor.

Retail spending flatlined in October in yet further evidence consumers have banked any recent stimulus windfall instead of hitting the shops.

Metcash has slipped to a $152.5 million first-half loss on the back of the loss of its 7-Eleven supply contract.

The Australian share market has rebounded following two days of steep losses and after stocks on Wall Street bounced overnight.

Oil prices surged 4.0 per cent overnight on expectations that OPEC and allied producers would extend production curbs and as US government data showed a large drop in domestic crude stockpiles.

Gold shrugged off earlier gains to fall overnight as a report suggesting progress on the US-China trade negotiations rekindled risk appetite while palladium notched up a fresh peak.

A business consultant who worked extensively in Perth has been jailed for nearly two years after she faked her credentials to secure a job as chief information officer for the South Australian government.

The Australian share market has fallen sharply for the second day in a row, after Donald Trump remarked that a trade deal with China might have to wait until late 2020.

Australia's GDP showed only a slight expansion in the last three months, while WA's state final demand fell by 0.2 per cent for the quarter - the second weakest performing state.

The Australian share market has fallen sharply for the second day in a row after another negative lead from overseas.

Oil steadied overnight as expectations of output cuts from OPEC and allied producers brought prices back up after they slid briefly following comments from US President Donald Trump that a trade deal with China may be delayed.

Gold jumped more than 1.0 per cent overnight on fading optimism surrounding a US-China trade deal after US President Donald Trump said talks could extend until after the presidential elections in November 2020.

The Australian share market has suffered its worst day since mid-August on renewed fears over global trade uncertainty.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held the cash rate at a record low 0.75 per cent, as widely expected by economists.

Australia's current account surplus widened to a larger than expected $7.855 billion in the September quarter despite a drought-related decline in export of rural goods.

Caltex Australia says the $8.6 billion unsolicited takeover offer from Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard undervalues the company.

Santos has upgraded its 2025 production outlook to 120 million barrels of oil equivalent from 100 mmboe, indicating a cumulative annual growth rate of more than eight per cent.