AAP

Ten Network Holdings has posted a $243.3 million first half loss, its results dragged down by one-off redundancy, termination and impairment costs.

Former industry minister Kim Carr has defended the rate of subsidies paid to the automotive sector, in the wake of Holden's decision to scrap 500 local jobs.

The federal coalition will deliver a faster, better, cheaper national broadband network to all Australians if it wins government, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

Lawyers for billionaire Gina Rinehart have claimed her legal pursuit of several journalists is not intended to force them to reveal their sources - but rather a request for information pertaining t

Shares in Sundance Resources plunged after resuming trade today, after it officially canned its $1.3 billion takeover deal with China's Hanlong Mining overnight.

US stocks have recovered from early losses and closed higher in anticipation of earnings season, which kicks off this week.

The Australian dollar is lower following disappointing US jobs figures and weakness in the Japanese yen.

Chemical firm Orica says former oil and gas head Russell Caplan has been elected company chairman to take over from Peter Duncan next year.

Four Filipino men hired to paint two oil rigs off the coast of Western Australia were paid less than $3 an hour for working 12-hour days, a Perth court has been told.

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.