AAP

Woolworths' first-half profit jumped 37.6 per cent to $969 million after comparable food sales at its Australian supermarkets rose 4.9 per cent.

The Australian share market has opened higher, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street and a steady flow of positive local earnings.

The Australian dollar is up almost half a cent against a weakened US counterpart.

Oil prices have risen to two-week highs, boosted by data showing a surprise draw in US crude inventories and also by a drop in the US dollar.

Gold has snapped four sessions of losses as the US dollar has surrendered early gains, though the metal remained lower for the week to date and analysts say they expect trading to be rangebound.

The Australian share market has posted a modest rise as big gains for Qantas, Crown Resorts and Nine Entertainment were partly offset by big ex-dividend retreats for AGL Energy and Woodside Petroleum.

A local landscaping company has suspended trading and operations due to financial viability problems a fortnight after one of the state's biggest builders, Cooper & Oxley, went into administration.

Strong ratings and a dominant share of the free-to-air TV revenue market have driven a 55 per cent increase in Nine Entertainment's half year underlying profit.

Qantas will return a further $378 million of capital to shareholders in the form of a buyback after the carrier lifted first-half profit 18 per cent to $607 million.

The Australian share market has opened higher, shrugging off Wall Street's turnaround from strong gains to finish firmly in the red.

The Australian dollar is little changed against its US counterpart which has again risen helped by buoyant short-term US Treasury yields.

The Australian share market looks set to open around half a per cent higher with Wall Street offering a positive lead despite some of its earlier strong gains ebbing closer to the close.

Oil prices are little changed ahead of data expected to show rising crude inventories in the United States and as the dollar has strengthened from last week's three-year lows.

Gold has dipped further, a day after its biggest daily slide in two-and-a-half months, but briefly bounced higher as the US dollar slipped for a short time after the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's January policy meeting.

The Australian share market inched higher as well received financial results from Wesfarmers and a2 Milk were countered by steep falls by heavyweight miners.

Downer EDI has posted an $11.1 million first-half loss, dragged down by a goodwill impairment on its mining operations, write-downs from its freight rail divestment and redundancy costs from its recently acquired Spotless.

Wages growth was stronger than expected in the final three months of 2017, but annual growth of 2.1 per cent is only slightly ahead of inflation.

Fortescue Metals' half-year profit has dropped 44 per cent as the miner offered wider discounts on its lower-grade product, but the result still came in ahead of market expectations.

Wesfarmers' first-half profit has plummeted 86 per cent to $212 million on the back of more than $1.3 billion in impairments against its UK hardware business and Target department stores.

Australian shares are marginally lower in early trade as investors take cues from a decline on Wall Street and local corporate earnings weigh on sentiment.

US crude has risen to a near two-week high on signs of inventory declines at a key storage hub, while Brent eased under pressure from a stronger dollar.

The Australian dollar is firmly back below 79 US cents.

Gold prices have been pressured by a stronger US dollar and rising interest rates, dropping for a third session, but were underpinned by political worries and uncertainty about this week's huge US bond auctions.

Australian shares have ended the day flat with a no-surprises line-up of company profit results failing to fire investor action in the absence of major overseas leads.

BHP Billiton has increased the expected cost of its South Flank iron ore project to $US3.6 billion ($A4.6 billion), substantially above the estimated range it provided in June 2017 when initial funding was approved.

Shares in Vocus Group have hit a four-month low after the telco held off paying its half-year dividend and downgraded its annual earnings guidance.

Engineering services firm Monadelphous Group has lifted half-year profit by nearly a third as it rides the rebound in resources sector activity.

The director of a Perth security company has been acknowledged for selling personal assets to provide back pay for staff who were underpaid more than $200,000.

Seven West Media's first-half profit has risen to $100.7 million but the broadcaster has temporarily suspended its dividend to focus on managing expenses.

The Australian share market has opened lower in the absence of a lead from US markets, which were shut for a public holiday, leaving local investors with only a negative lead from Europe and Britain.

Gold prices are down slightly as the US dollar claws back some recent losses and stocks rose, but worries about US inflation keep buyers in the metal.

The Australian dollar is slightly lower against its US counterpart which has rebounded off three-year lows.