AAP

A court has allowed four Filipino men to be paid less than $3 an hour to work on oil rigs off the Western Australian coast.

David Jones is upbeat ahead of the busy Christmas season as the upmarket department store chain enjoys a healthy post-election boost in sales.

Australian shares have been dragged lower by the big miners due to weaker commodities prices.

Shares in NSW cheese maker Bega have surged to a record high after the world's biggest diary exporter Fonterra bought a six per cent stake in it.

The Australia market has opened lower following weak leads from Wall Street.

US stocks have fallen following a flood of mixed earnings reports, but registered strong gains for the entire tumultuous month of October.

Oil prices have fallen again, with New York prices down a third straight day, amid rising stockpiles in the United States and a tepid picture for economic growth.

The Australian dollar is lower after a bout of disappointing data from the euro zone caused a sell-off in most currencies.

Nine mine workers trapped in an underground mine in central Western Australia have been bought to the surface safely, the operator BHP Billiton says.

Clive Palmer says a discrepancy in the numbers across three vote recounts in the seat of Fairfax proves officials have been counting votes incorrectly, while the Liberal National Party is yet to rule out challenging his narrow win.

There is growing confidence the central bank will leave the official cash rate unchanged at its November board meeting for the second year in a row.

National Australia Bank has made a record profit of almost $6 billion and hopes an improvement in business confidence will boost its bottom line next year.

The Australian share market has closed slightly lower as falls by most major banks and gains among industrial stocks resulted in a flat day of trade.

The fate of Western Australia's Senate election looks set to be decided in court - or with a new election for six WA senate seats - after the Australian Electoral Commission admitted it had lost more than 1,300 votes.

The surprise discovery of coal in the Pilbara signals there may be many more valuable resources still undiscovered in Western Australia, according to Premier Colin Barnett.

Federal authorities have been drafted in to help investigate the discovery of a large haul of chemical explosive in a Western Australian estuary, which has been confirmed to be the highly-volatile TATP.

Woolworths has enjoyed a three per cent sales increase despite subdued retail conditions, with its supermarkets, petrol stations and hardware stores posting gains.

Bega Cheese's takeover play for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory has been given a boost, with the competition regulator greenlighting the bid.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy says an employee has died, almost a month after receiving significant burns in an electrical incident at its Langer Heinrich Mine in Namibia.

The Australian market has opened lower following falls in US stocks after the Federal Reserve hinted at when it may start to unwind its stimulus program.

LinkedIn says it has surpassed five million Australian members as more people apparently try online networking for a career boost.

The Australian market has opened lower following falls in US stocks after the Federal Reserve hinted at when it may start to unwind its stimulus program.

The Australian dollar has recovered somewhat after dipping to a three-week low following the US Federal Reserve's announcement it will keep its aggressive economic stimulus program in place for now.

US oil prices have fallen for a second day in a row after an inventory report showed a surprisingly large increase in US supplies.

US stocks have closed lower after the US Federal Reserve maintained an aggressive monetary stimulus program and reiterated that it will await stronger economic conditions before scaling it back.

The grocery industry has warned that a price war between the nation's big two supermarket chains could hurt consumers in the long run if food suppliers don't have money to invest in their businesses.

Australian shares have finished firmer as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to maintain its economic stimulus measures.

Construction giant Leighton says it will fight a class action filed by shareholders seeking to recover losses stemming from the company's massive profit downgrade in 2011.

Crown chairman billionaire James Packer says an ambitious program to expand the number of its integrated hotel and casino resorts in Asia and Australia is affordable.

Telco giant Telstra is suing the National Broadband Network Company over a commercial dispute that could be worth more than $100 million.

Australian stocks have opened higher after Wall Street's Dow Jones and S&P 500 both hit fresh record highs.

Fortescue Metals Group is looking to take advantage of favourable credit market conditions to lower the interest repayments on its debt.