AAP

Technology and media stocks pushed Wall Street higher on Wednesday and helped the Nasdaq hit a record high, as markets eyed a recovery after being battered by a rapidly escalating China-US trade tensions.

Gold prices have dropped, remaining near a six-month low, as the US dollar has hovered around 11 month peaks but was offset by festering global trade tensions, while platinum hit a 2-1/2-year trough.

The Australian share market is at its highest level in more than 10 years as the major banks soared, while Telstra plunged after announcing major job cuts and asset sales.

Telstra is axing 8,000 jobs over the next three years as it tries to save $1 billion while tackling the cost of investing in new technology and increased competition from its rivals.

Australian shares have opened higher despite falls in commodity prices and weakness on overseas markets amid escalating trade tensions between China and the US.

Oil has fallen ahead of a possible increase in OPEC crude supply, and as an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China unleashed sharp selloffs in many global markets.

The Australian dollar has retraced some of the ground it has lost against its major currency peers regaining almost a fifth of a cent against the US dollar.

Gold has fallen to a near six-month low and platinum has hit its lowest since February 2016 as a stronger greenback is overwhelmed by safe-haven buying, spurred by fears of a trade war between the world's two top economies.

The Australian share market edged lower as the mining heavyweights were hit by falls in iron ore prices, while the Australian dollar hit a one-year low.

JPMorgan Australia chairman Robert Priestley has quit the ASX and Future Fund boards as a criminal case progresses against ANZ bank over a capital raising underwritten by the investment bank.

Atlas Iron has given ASX-listed rival Mineral Resources three days to respond to the $390 million takeover bid by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

The Australian share market is higher in early trading, with gains across the board led by energy stocks.

The Australian dollar has continued its slide against the US dollar, performing poorly versus an unchanged US currency.

Oil prices have risen in volatile trade as market participants lower their expectations for how much OPEC might increase production and investors assess the impact of a trade dispute between the United States and China.

The price of gold has held close to five-and-a-half-month lows, with a strong US dollar offsetting the upward influence of an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China.

The Australian share market has recovered from early weakness to eke out a tiny gain despite fears of a US-China trade war and lower commodity prices weighing upon mining and energy stocks.

Rural newspapers in Western Australia are set to shed staff with Seven West Media announcing a fresh round of voluntary redundancies as it moves to centralise its regional business.

South32 has made a $US1.3 billion ($A1.75 billion) bid to take sole ownership of US-focused Arizona Mining.

The Australian share market has opened lower, hurt by resource and energy companies, amid concerns about the global economic implications of the tit-for-tat tariffs battle between the US and China.

The Australian dollar has slipped a little further against its US counterpart as the spat between the US and China over trade hurts commodities and commodity currencies, including the Aussie.

Oil prices have fallen more than $US2 a barrel after two of the world's biggest producers indicated they might increase output at next week's OPEC meeting, while US exports were threatened by potential Chinese tariffs on crude oil and refined products.

Gold prices have slumped to a near-six-month low, as investors from China jittery about trade skirmishes with the United States unloaded bullion, and others joined the selling spree after prices breached below technical support of $US1,290 per ounce.

The Australian share market has closed at a four-week high after investors decided it was time to buy back into beaten-down banks, and the major miners and energy stocks made solid gains.

Australia's corporate watchdog has started legal action against Westpac over poor financial advice provided by one of the bank's former financial planners, Sudhir Kumar Sinha.

The Australian share market has rallied in early trade thanks to higher commodity prices boosting the miners and a strong start from the big banks after a positive lead from Wall Street.

Gold prices have risen to a one-month high after the European Central Bank pledged to keep interest rates steady through to the northern summer of 2019 and investors fret over weak Chinese data.

Oil prices are mixed, with Brent slipping and WTI gaining, as a stronger US dollar weighs and a key supply-setting meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries looms.

The Australian dollar has slipped below 75 US cents, dropping more than half a cent as the greenback soars with the US dollar index up 1.1 per cent.

Australian shares have closed the day weaker after soft local job figures and weak economic data out of China weighed on a market already under pressure from overnight falls on Wall Street.

The Western Australian government has downplayed security worries around the expected award of a $120 million Public Transport Authority contract to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.

The former executive officer of a Western Australian Aboriginal corporation has been ordered to pay more than $430,000 in compensation and penalties after he borrowed money from the non-profit entity that he couldn't repay.

Western Australia's unemployment rate fell slightly in May to 6.4 per cent despite the local economy losing nearly 2,000 jobs, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.