AAP

The world's biggest drilling services company, Boart Longyear, says higher costs and lower prices are weighing on earnings but revenue is expected to pick up.

The Australian share market is lower, pulled back by weakness among the major banks and the resources sector.

Construction giant Leighton Holdings will sell its John Holland subsidiary to a Chinese firm for around $1.15 billion.

US stocks have advanced following an upbeat retail sales report, but the gains were limited by concerns over the rapid fall in oil prices.

The Australian dollar has plummeted to fresh four-and-a-half-year lows after the head of the Reserve Bank said he wanted the currency to fall to 75 US cents.

US oil prices have tumbled below $US60 a barrel for the first time since July 2009, taking the shocking loss since June to about 44 per cent.

Gold futures have closed lower as upbeat US economic data bolster the US dollar and fan expectations of tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.

Manufacturer Bradken is opening its books to its private equity suitors and fielding takeover interest from other parties.

Sharp falls by resources companies caused by further weakness in commodity prices have driven the share market lower.

A Nationals senator wants to make it illegal for banks to foreclose on drought-hit farmers.

Big businesses already raise a hefty chunk of their funds from the bond market rather than banks - and many will go further down that road in 2015.

Caltex expects to lift its full-year profit by about 40 per cent thanks to higher fuel sales as oil prices fall.

Australia is considering selling uranium to Ukraine, home to the world's worst nuclear disaster.

A fire at a margarine factory in Western Australia's south has caused an estimated $1 million worth of damage.

Energy company Santos plans to slash its capital expenditure by 25 per cent as the oil price slides to fresh five-year lows.

Manufacturers are gaining a new lease of life from rising building activity and a sustained depreciation in the Australian dollar.

The unemployment rate has hit a 12-year high, despite a strong rise in the number of people with jobs, while Western Australia continues to have the lowest unemployment of any state.

The Australian stock market has taken another dive after oil prices dropped to fresh five-year lows.

US stocks have tumbled more than 1.5 per cent as a pullback in petroleum stocks sparked a sell-off in the broader market.

The Australian dollar has slipped back below 83 US cents as oil prices come under further pressure after OPEC cut its 2015 demand forecast.

Oil prices have sunk to new five-year lows with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude nearly hitting $US60 a barrel, 40 per cent down from just six months ago.

Gold prices have retreated from a six-week high, as some traders take profits on the recent rally and others adjust their expectations for the timing of interest-rate increases in the US.

The state opposition claims the MAX Light Rail project is doomed, after a Parliamentary Estimates hearing was today told the government was considering constructing an underground rail line to service the same transport corridor.

A slump in consumer sentiment and fears commodity prices will continue to tumble have driven the Australian share market lower.

Movie companies may soon be able to get court orders requiring Australian internet providers to block foreign illegal download websites.

China's consumer inflation fell to a five-year low of 1.4 per cent in November, the government says, amid concerns over the risk of deflation in the world's second-largest economy.

The number of new home loans in October has bounced back after two months of falls.

Australian consumers are the gloomiest they have been in three years.

Vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys Group has made a strong start to trade on the share market.

The Australian sharemarket has continued its slide following fresh concerns about political instability in Greece.

Wall Street stocks have shaken off much of the negative momentum from Asian and European equity markets, finishing the day mixed after a bruising open.

The Australian dollar is firmer as profit takers sell the greenback.