AAP

Theme park and Goodlife gym owner Ardent Leisure is more than doubling its Western Australian fitness clubs by buying Fitness First sites in the state's capital.

Ausdrill has flagged another profit writedown of as much as $80 million, as it warns the recovery in the mining services sector will be slower than previously expected.

The Australian share market has opened lower following negative leads from Wall Street and fears the conflict in Ukraine is set to worsen.

The Australian dollar is losing ground following reports that Russia is increasing the number of troops on the Ukraine border.

Oil prices in New York have fallen to a six-month low on concerns about weak gasoline demand in the US and lacklustre Chinese economic data.

US stocks have fallen sharply in a sell-off analysts attributed to anxiety about a Wall Street correction and worries that the conflict in Ukraine could worsen.

The share market has fallen for a third consecutive trading day, with the benchmark S&P ASX200 index down 22.3 points or 0.4 per cent, despite the US and Europe providing positive leads.

Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder believes US online retailing giant Amazon is the biggest threat to his company.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group plans to pay down more than $2 billion in debt over the next two years as it looks to save $400 million by converting its operations to gas.

Nickel miner Sirius Resources is close to securing $1.5 billion for its Nova nickel project after striking a native title deal with traditional owners.

At its meeting today, the Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent, with Governor Glen Stevens flagging a period of stability in interest rates.

Thousands of Bluestone Global workers have lost their jobs after the Melbourne-based mining services provider went into administration and its subsidiaries into liquidation.

An independent audit has damned Labor's rollout of the national broadband network and recommends all major infrastructure projects be subject to a published cost-benefit analysis.

Australia's trade balance remained in the red with a deficit of $1.683 billion in June.

The local sharemarket has opened flat ahead of the Reserve Bank's interest rate announcement and the full swing of earnings season.

Engineering group Downer EDI has lifted its full-year profit almost 6 per cent, despite a slide in revenue from across its infrastructure, mining and rail businesses.

Businesses confidence has hit its highest level in 11 years, as the services sector and retailers become more optimistic about their sales outlook.

US stocks have risen, recovering some ground lost last week when the S&P 500 notched its biggest weekly decline since mid-2012.

The Australian dollar is higher after US stocks recovered some ground after last week's losses, as market sentiment turns around.

Oil prices have moved higher following a weekend of turmoil in key petroleum producers Libya and Iraq.

Gold prices have slipped, as fears of a sooner-than-expected increase in US interest rates overshadowed continued violence in Ukraine and Israel.

US private equity firm KKR has upped its bid for Treasury Wine Estates, but the battle for the owner of Penfolds wines may be just beginning.

The share market lost ground but not as much as expected, as strong retail spending figures boosted sentiment.

Job seekers could be the hardest hit if the federal government continues to struggle to get its first budget endorsed.

Atlas Iron boss Ken Brinsden has hosed down takeover speculation of his company, but says its shares are good value.

Another month of solid jobs growth is not expected to be enough to bring the unemployment rate down from its highest level in 10 years.

Retail spending is picking up as Australian consumers shake off the federal budget blues.

The fund set up to pay future public servant superannuation entitlements has topped $100 billion.

Mining services entrepreneurs Peter Bartlett and Ron Sayers met in the Supreme Court again today for the start of their new tax fraud trial, following a hung jury verdict in November.

Inflation appears to be off to a soft start in the September quarter, allowing the Reserve Bank to remain in wait-and-see mode on interest rates.

The Australia share market has continued its slide, following further losses on Wall Street and in Europe.

Gold futures have ended higher, erasing the previous day's losses, after a lacklustre US labour market reading fanned trader interest in the protective asset and eased jitters over higher interest rates.