AAP

Oil prices have fallen more than one per cent with US crude settling below $US50 per barrel for the first time in a week ahead of data likely to show a build in domestic inventories.

The Australian dollar has risen against its US counterpart ahead of the release of local inflation data.

US stocks slipped from two-week highs on Tuesday as results and forecasts from companies in sectors, including housing and consumer products, failed to live up to expectations.

The Australian share market has closed higher, led by the financial sector, as investors start to feel bullish ahead of earnings reports from three of the big four Australian banks.

The Australian share market has kicked off the trading session higher, with gains across the board following a strong session on Wall Street.

Gold prices have slipped as the US dollar has strengthened to a fresh near nine-month high on growing speculation that the US Federal Reserve would lift its key interest rate in December.

Oil prices have dipped, with US crude briefly falling below $US50 per barrel, on news of the impending restart of Britain's Buzzard oilfield and Iraq's wish to be exempted from OPEC production cuts.

The Australian dollar has slipped amid renewed hopes of a US rate rise before Christmas.

The Australian share market has closed lower, led by a sharp sell-off in healthcare stocks and a fall in energy stocks.

Energy giant Santos has agreed to sell its Victorian gas assets to Cooper Energy for up to $82 million.

Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, will attempt to persuade the Kidman cattle empire that her offer is still superior, despite being trumped over the weekend by an all-Australian consortium that made a higher bid.

Western Australia has fallen to the bottom of the pile in CommSec's latest ‘State of the States' report, following the end of the mining construction boom.

Private health insurer Medibank Private no longer has any investments in tobacco companies.

The Australian share market has slipped in early trade as a lack of cues from Wall Street and investor caution weigh on sentiment.

Gold prices are little changed as a strong US dollar limited gains, but the precious metal notched its first weekly rise in four as seasonal demand from Asia kicked in.

The Australian dollar continues to lose ground against the US dollar, which has hit an eight-month high.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been quoted as saying that OPEC and non-OPEC nations are "very close" to an agreement on oil production curbs, Azerbaijan's state news agency Azertag reported.

Santos has narrowed its full-year sales guidance to the top end of its previous target range after total sales volumes leapt 31 per cent in the September quarter, compared with the same period last year.

The share market has fallen slightly due to weakness in the energy sector and a surprise profit warning from private hospitals operator Healthscope.

BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser has announced he will step down next year after more than 10 years on the board, on the same day the resources giant rejected charges by Brazilian prosecutors filed against the company and its employees in relation the Samarco dam disaster.

Australian shares are relatively flat in early trade as a lack of cues from Wall Street and profit taking after recent gains weighs on the market.

US stocks ended a choppy session on Thursday with a slight decline as investors digested the latest round of earnings, with a sharp drop in telecoms offset by gains in healthcare.

The Australian dollar is markedly weaker against the US dollar in the wake of disappointing local employment numbers and as its US counterpart climbs on upbeat north American data.

Oil prices have fallen more than two per cent, as a resurgent US dollar encouraged players to take profit on the previous day's rally that sent US crude to 15-month highs.

Gold has eased slightly after three days of gains as the US dollar rose and the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged, maintaining the parameters of its 1.74 trillion euros ($A2.49 trillion) asset buying program.

Gains in the resources sector have offset losses from retail, health and telco stocks to lead the share market modestly higher.

The gap between the rich and the poor in Western Australia has narrowed slightly since the end of the resources boom but the divide is still substantial, new research suggests.

Crown Resorts plans to offload a 49 per cent stake in some of its Australian hotels and retail properties in a stock market float even if it doesn't secure approval to spin-off its international assets.

September's national unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent was as low as it's been since February 2013, but that's about where the good news from the Australian Bureau of Statistics today ends.

Diversified miner South32 has reported a 4 per cent fall in manganese ore production in the first quarter of 2017, but says its on track to achieve its cost guidance for the majority of its production.

Rio Tinto has slightly trimmed the full-year guidance for iron ore shipments from its Pilbara operations by up to 5 million tonnes, after port and rail maintenance affected shipments in the September quarter.

Woodside Petroleum has reported a sharp increase in September quarter sales revenue and production, helped by record volumes at its liquefied natural gas facilities.