AAP

Australian stocks finished mildly higher as investors took their cues from Japan, amid renewed interest in local mining stocks.

Low rainfall across most of Australia will probably slash agribusiness Ruralco's profit in the first four months of its financial year by up to 70 per cent.

Ramsay Health Care says it will expand operations at Peel Health Campus as soon as it can, after Health Minister Kim Hames revealed it as the new owner-operator of the troubled hospital.

 Vodafone Australia chief executive Bill Morrow has set an ambitious timetable - aiming to make his network Australia's most trusted mobile service by the end of this year.

Car maker Holden will axe 400 jobs from its South Australian operations.The company says 100 positions will also go at its product development workforce in Melbourne.

Wesfarmers has parachuted in the head of operations at its Coles supermarkets chain, Stuart Machin, to run discount department store Target following the shock resignation of Dene Rogers.

Western Australia's first waste-to-energy plant could be built near Port Hedland, using garbage to generate enough electricity to power more than 20,000 homes every year.

A business group is urging the federal government to explain the true cost of the national broadband network after claims it could top $90 billion.

ANZ and Westpac will become the first Australian banks to help businesses directly trade Australian dollars for the Chinese yuan.

 Australian shares have opened slightly higher, buoyed by resource stocks.

Australia's building sector has suffered a sharp deterioration in activity in March, hampered by project delays, fewer projects and tight credit conditions.

Boart Longyear's chief financial officer Joseph Raglan has agreed to leave the drilling company.

After a meteoric climb in the first quarter, US equity markets finally began to come back down to earth last week.

 A sharp fall in the value of the yen has pushed the Australian dollar lower against the greenback.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says the coalition policy detailing its alternative to the National Broadband Network is "very imminent".

Sundance Resources says it is concluding talks with suitor Hanlong Mining.

The Australian share market has closed lower as investors struggle to maintain the confidence that marked the earlier months of this year.

Oil Search's liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea remains on track to deliver its first gas sales next year, despite overall costs blowing out to billion.

Consumer and business confidence in Australia should rebound in 2013 if the global economy stays relatively stable, says Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev.

Federal Labor has accused the coalition of a "staggering backflip" after the opposition signalled it might keep the government's extension of the petroleum resource rent tax to onshore projects.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to "fight ferociously" to block Labor's latest ch

The Australian stock market has opened flat, with gains by the two big miners offset by weakness among healthcare companies and major retailers.

US stocks closed a choppy day of trading higher after Japan's monetary stimulus plan boosted sentiment.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55.76 (0.38 per cent) to 14,606.11.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has touted Australia's friendship with China on the eve of her visit to the regional powerhouse, saying only Labor has a plan to engage with fast growing Asian markets.

The Australian dollar is slightly lower against its US counterpart following news of fresh stimulus measures in Japan.

The Australian share market finished almost one per cent lower due to weaker offshore leads and lower commodity prices.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has indicated a federal coalition government would not invest in state urban rail projects, insisting the Commonwealth should “stick to its knitting” of funding roads.

Better technology allows almost three out of five small businesses to have employees working away from the office, a survey says.

Hundreds of jobs at Shell's Geelong refinery face the axe if the company can't find a buyer to keep the plant open, a union says.

The competition watchdog isn't satisfied with the national broadband network builder's plan governing wholesale broadband pricing and access to its infrastructure.