AAP

The Australian share market finished 0.4 per cent higher on Friday, following double-digit gains for Block, Aussie Broadband, Brainchip and Appen.

The local share market finished basically unchanged, as Fortescue, Qantas, Medibank Private, Tabcorp, Lovisa, Nine Entertainment and others reported earnings.

The ASX market has finished down 0.7 per cent as Woolworths plunged 6.6 per cent to a more than one-year low, while CSR soared on takeover speculation.

Westfield owner Scentre Group has reported a steep drop in full-year profit due to property valuations but the company's leader says income improved.

The local share market has finished 0.1 per cent lower as BHP, Sonic Healthcare, Sims, Humm Group and others reported first-half earnings.

Police have arrested climate activists allegedly blocking a road during a protest outside Woodside Energy's Perth headquarters, the Disrupt Burrup Hub says.

The local stock market has finished up 0.1 per cent, as gains for BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and the banks outweighed a big fall for Lendlease stock.

Conditions are finally turning after a bumper few years for the labour market, with some fields to be hit harder than others.

The ASX200 has finished up 0.7 per cent after a big fall in US retail sales revived talk of midyear rate cuts.

US stocks have closed buoyed by hopes that a large fall in retail sales data may point to an earlier cut to interest rates.

The ASX200 has finished 0.8 per cent higher with Altium soaring on a takeover deal and Wesfarmers and Goodman Group also rising sharply.

Australia's jobless rate has lifted to 4.1 per cent in January, the first time the unemployment rate had been above four per cent in two years.

The local share market finished 0.7 per cent lower and the Australian dollar hit a three-month low following sticky US inflation figures.

Australia's biggest bank made $5 billion in profit in the first half, down three per cent from a year ago, in a result one analyst branded as "lukewarm."

The local bourse has closed 0.15 per cent lower, with gains by the retail banks outweighed by losses from Macquarie, James Hardie, CSL and Seek.

Net profits after tax have halved to $63 million for Kerry Stokes' media conglomerate, while revenue has dropped five per cent.

The Australian share market has finished down 0.4 per cent in large part because of a failed heart attack drug that CSL spent nearly $1 billion developing.

Employers who say giving workers the right to switch off after hours will diminish flexible work arrangements are "scaremongering", a union boss says.

The local market finished marginally higher for the day but lost 0.7 per cent over the week, after falling on Monday and Tuesday.

The tax office has accused consulting giant PwC of not disclosing key details of a report into the conduct of its partners in a tax advice scandal.

The local share market has finished up 0.3 per cent, after better-than-expected earnings from AGL, Transurban, Mirvac, News Corp and Cochlear.

A stranded live export ship is expected to return to port and could offload thousands of livestock after an application to export them to Israel was rejected.

The local bourse finished up 0.5 per cent, with gains for Woodside after it called off merger talks with Santos and Cettire soaring on strong earnings.

National Australia Bank has announced that Andrew Irvine will replace Ross McEwan as its chief executive, effective in April.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has not ruled out more interest rate hikes but economic forecasters are reasonably confident the next move will be down.

The local share market finished down 0.6 per cent after RBA governor Michele Bullock indicated the central bank wouldn't act quickly to cut rates.

It remains unclear what will happen to sheep and cattle on the MV Bahijah off Perth after authorities rejected a bid to send the livestock to Israel.

The local share market closed down 1.0 per cent after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve reiterated that the central bank would move slowly on rate cuts.

With most Australians expected to win out from the government's amended tax cuts, the treasurer has warned other parties not to block the policy in parliament.

The domestic bourse has hit a fresh all-time high after Amazon, Meta, and Apple all exceeded earnings expectations, raising investor risk appetite.

As borrowers wait to see what the central bank does next week, the federal opposition has castigated three Labor premiers for publicly hoping for a rate cut.

The Australian share market has dropped 1.2 per cent after Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell said a March rate cut was unlikely.