AAP

Oil prices have settled one per cent lower after OPEC reported its September oil output hit eight-year highs, offsetting optimism over the group's pledge to bring a global crude glut under control.

The Australian dollar has slipped further after the US dollar hit a fresh seven-month high overnight, continuing its recent trend.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average indexes ended Wednesday's session with small gains as expectations for timing on a rate hike were largely unchanged after US Federal Reserve minutes and investors waited on earnings reports.

Weaker energy and mining stocks have pulled the share market lower, despite gains by market heavyweights including Telstra and CSL.

Former Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone will takeover the chairmanship at Commonwealth Bank of Australia when David Turner retires.

Thousands of aggrieved Slater & Gordon shareholders will be represented in a $250 million-plus class action against the law firm for wrongdoing including allegedly "blindsiding" them with bad news.

The Australian share market has opened lower, with falls across the board following losses on global equity markets and lower oil and gold prices.

Gold prices have fallen as the US dollar has strengthened on increasing bets that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates in December.

The Australian dollar is hovering at a three-week low as the US greenback found support among investors following falls in global equity markets and oil prices.

Oil prices have retreated from one-year highs, after OPEC said it was trying to reach a global agreement to cap production for at least six months amid doubts about how much that would reduce a crude glut.

Slumping crude prices and a dour start to Wall Street's corporate earnings season have pulled down US and European equities, while the dollar hit an eight-month high on increasing bets US interest rates will rise in December.

The Australian share market has closed broadly steady as cautious investors await the next trigger to determine the direction of the market.

Oil giant BP's decision to abandon exploration plans in the Great Australian Bight could mean that the region will remain unexplored for some time.

BHP Billiton expects renewable energy to grow at the higher end of expectations but says non-renewable fuels will remain the lowest cost sources in major energy markets for the foreseeable future.

The Australian share market has opened higher, following Wall Street's positive close.

Oil prices have jumped as much as three per cent, with Brent hitting a one-year high, after Russia says it is ready to join OPEC in curbing crude output and Algeria calls for similar commitments from other non-OPEC producers.

Gold has recovered from its biggest weekly drop since November after downbeat US payrolls data dampened speculation of a near-term US interest rate rise and as Chinese buyers returned after the Golden Week holiday.

The Australian dollar is still gaining against the greenback after oil prices jumped overnight.

The Australian share market has closed fractionally higher as gains in financial and resource heavyweights, plus takeover target UGL, offset losses in energy stocks on the back of lower oil prices.

Almost half of Liberal voters in Treasurer Mike Nahan's safe seat of Riverton are opposed to the proposed privatisation of utility Western Power, according to ReachTel data.

The federal government has promised an "arms-length" decision on Gina Rinehart and Shanghai CRED’s joint $365 million bid for cattle empire S. Kidman & Co, which will still require foreign investment approval.

Spanish-controlled construction giant CIMIC Group has launched a $524 million takeover bid for its ASX-listed rival UGL.

The Australian share market has advanced in early trade, despite a weak close last week on Wall Street, as investors look to build on gains from the past three weeks.

The Australian dollar is trading higher ahead of the second US presidential debate and after disappointing US jobs figures.

Oil has fallen just over one per cent as players took profits on a rally over the past week that propelled prices nearly 15 per cent to four-month highs on hopes of OPEC crude output cuts.

Gold has fallen for the ninth straight session, briefly tapping a four-month low as computer-generated selling offset support from weak US payrolls data, but bullion was on track for its biggest weekly drop in more than three years.

The share market has ended the week with a fall as markets wait for the latest US jobs data that is likely to influence the timing of an expected US rate hike.

Two different proposals from the Western Australian government to change the way Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton pay an iron ore charge is already damaging the state's reputation as an investment destination, a business lobby group says.

WA Labor leader Mark McGowan has ruled out extending a ban on fracking beyond three regions if he wins the March state election.

Two interest rate cuts are yet to trigger a boom in retail spending, MasterCard says.

Milk processors have agreed to develop a code of conduct with dairy farmers aimed at preventing controversial farmgate price cuts.

Engineering construction helped overall building activity return to expansion in September.