AAP

ExxonMobil has submitted plans for a large floating LNG project in Western Australia's Scarborough gas field that it hopes to exploit with BHP Billiton.

US stocks have pushed to new record highs, bolstered by solid US manufacturing orders and strong results from US carmakers.

It is time for the big retail banks to step up to the plate and cut their lending rates after the central bank left monetary policy unchanged, an industry group says.

The Australian dollar drifted higher during the local session, helped by a weaker US counterpart and the central bank's decision to keep the cash rate on hold.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has homed in on divisions within federal Labor over possible superannuation changes in the May budget.

Cinema giant Hoyts is on the back foot after social media reports emerged over the weekend claiming the Carousel cinema in Cannington is infested with rodents.

The Australian share market closed slightly higher due to strength among financial stocks..

The federal government has defended its financial support for the car industry, after Holden revealed it has received $2.2 billion in handouts over the past 12 years.

Resource companies either want the federal government's controversial mining tax scrapped, or left as it is, as Treasury tries to work out how it got its revenue forecasts for the impost so wrong.

Labor leader Mark McGowan has been re-elected unopposed as the party's leader following an embarrassing election defeat last month.

The Australian Greens are calling for all coal seam gas projects to be put on hold until their environmental impacts are better known, following revelations about shortfalls in the approval process

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan would be the highest-profile casualty as the coalition cruises to victory at the September 14 federal election, according to analysis of recent polling.

Billabong's shares have been placed in a trading halt as talks with two potential suitors drag on.

Australian stocks have opened firmer, with the big supermarket chains and energy companies leading the broader market higher.

The decline in Australia's manufacturing sector has extended into a 14th month as falling selling prices and a strong currency hit hard.

US stocks retreated on Monday, weakened by mediocre manufacturing data and cautious sentiment after last week's record highs.

Visitors to the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition on Cottesloe Beach have been slugged more than $100,000 in parking fines, the local council has revealed.

The federal government says any rise in the minimum wage should take account of both the needs of low-income families and the pressures on business.

BlueScope Steel and the world's second-largest steelmaker have begun their $1.31 billion joint venture in coated products.

The Australian dollar is almost half of a US cent lower amid nervousness about what will happen with banks in Cyprus and the Italian government over the Easter weekend.

Australian stocks closed about half a per cent lower as the big resources companies dragged the market down following falls in China

It's official: Perth is now home to four of Australia's five most advantaged suburbs, and people are flocking to share in Western Australia's wealth boom in record numbers.

Shares in Linc Energy fell more than 12 per cent after the company announced it has raised $200 million through a convertible bond issue.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says current low interest rates are a "temporary feature" of the Australian economy.

Fruit and vegie prices fell in March, but the savings were eaten up by increases in the cost of fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

Australian stocks have opened down about 0.4 per cent, with the big retail banks and energy sector leading the broader market lower.

The coalition will not confirm whether it would reverse a possible Labor raid on wealthy people's superannuation tax concessions.

Federal Labor could lose at least 24 seats at the next election, according to an opinion poll of marginal seats taken for the Australian Financial Review.

US stocks mostly fell on Wednesday amid renewed anxiety over the eurozone as Cyprus moves to implement the EU-IMF rescue plan.

Premier Colin Barnett can't promise he'll secure federal infrastructure funding for his election commitments, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Supermarket giant Woolworths has raised concerns in the dairy industry with a plan to deal directly with a group of farmers to secure milk supplies.

The Australian share market closed almost one per cent higher as investors took their cues from positive news in the US.