AAP

Australian shares have climbed higher at the start of trade, led by the healthcare and energy sectors.

Oil prices gained 1.5 per cent on Friday as strong US employment data tempered fears about weakening global crude oil demand, and on expectations that an escalating conflict in Libya could tighten oil supplies.

Gold eased on Friday as Wall Street gained on data pointing to a rebound in jobs growth in the United States but bullion's losses were limited by a simultaneous slowdown in wage growth.

The Australian sharemarket has slumped lower for a second straight day, leaving it flat for the week.

Woodside Petroleum has signed a heads of agreement to supply liquefied natural gas to China's ENN Ecological Holdings for 10 years from 2025.

Bill Shorten is promising voters billions of extra dollars for health and bigger personal income tax cuts for low income workers if Labor wins the next election.

Australian shares have opened lower for the second day in a row, with all sectors joining the slump.

Brent oil prices rose overnight, briefly touching $US70 a barrel for the first time since November as expectations of tight global supply outweighed pressure from rising US production and less robust global demand indicators.

Gold inched higher overnight after touching a near 10-week low earlier in the session as the US dollar firmed on US jobs data, while investors awaited clarity on US-China trade talks.

The Australian share market has suffered its first losing session in eight days, with nearly every sector down.

Woodside Petroleum and Chevron have applied for a new licence for their Kitimat LNG plant in northern British Columbia that could nearly double the project's size to produce 18 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

Graincorp's plans to demerge its global malting business and list the new company on the ASX have been greeted warmly by investors.

IOOF managing director Christopher Kelaher has left the business, as the beleaguered wealth manager focuses on restoring trust amid a shareholder class action and court action by the prudential regulator.

All sectors of the Australian share market have joined a broad slump, threatening an end to the ASX's seven-day winning streak.

Oil prices edged down overnight after US government data showed a surprise build in crude inventories, but futures held near their highest in almost five months as OPEC-led output cuts and sanctions on Iran tightened the supply outlook.

Gold prices slipped overnight as stock markets rallied globally on hopes the United States and China could clinch a trade deal, while a weaker US dollar limited bullion's losses.

The Australian share market has hit a six-month high, amid positive signs for the local economy and optimism on US-China trade talks.

National retail spending rose 0.8 per cent in February, beating market expectations and potentially giving the Reserve Bank some breathing room on any cut to the cash rate.

The growth forecasts underpinning the federal budget look a touch optimistic, according to economists.

The Australian share market has hit a six-month high, as investors around the world shake off fears of a global economic slowdown.

Gold firmed overnight, recovering from a near four-week low, as US stock markets retreated, but a strong US dollar and robust economic data from the US and China eased fears of a global slowdown, capping bullion's advance.

Oil prices hit their highest level so far in 2019 overnight, with Brent crude approaching $US70 a barrel, on the prospect that more sanctions against Iran and further Venezuelan disruptions could deepen an OPEC-led supply cut.

Millions of Australian workers will get an extra $1000 back and commuters will see a decade of road and rail upgrades in the nation's first surplus budget in 12 years.

Australian shares have moved higher for a sixth straight day, as markets around the world rallied on the back of positive data from the world's two largest economies.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the official cash rate at a record low of 1.5 per cent as widely expected, but most economists believe a rate cut is around the corner.

Former Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev has been appointed chief operating officer of online jobs advertiser Seek.

The driving force behind the disability royal commission says a reported fund of more than $500 million to pay for it is a win for disabled people.

Australian shares have opened higher ahead of the federal budget, following strong gains on Wall Street overnight.

Oil climbed about two per cent overnight to new 2019 highs, with Brent crude touching $US69 a barrel after positive signs for the global economy and tighter supplies drove both benchmarks' largest first-quarter gains in nearly a decade.

Gold inched lower overnight as stronger-than-expected US manufacturing data offset support from sluggish retail sales numbers while palladium surged three per cent.

Australian shares have jumped after China reported stronger-than-expected economic data - but the local bourse didn't gain as much as other Asian indices, with investors cautious a day ahead of the federal government's budget.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is in Shanghai this week, spruiking the state's LNG industry.