AAP

A second broad-based rally helped the ASX close the first week of 2022 slightly ahead, although the prospect of earlier rate hikes remains a worry for investors.

Woolworths Group has withdrawn its bid for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API), leaving Wesfarmers as the only suitor for the Priceline Pharmacy owner.

Australian shares had their biggest one-day fall since September 2020 as investors panicked about interest rates rising sooner than expected.

Australia and Japan are set to ink a security treaty that Prime Minister Scott Morrison describes as "historic" during a virtual summit with his Japanese counterpart.

Investors tempered their new year enthusiasm and lowered the ASX on the second day of 2022 trade as the latest wave of coronavirus infections dominated the economic agenda in many countries.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has challenged the prime minister to make rapid antigen tests free, backing calls for them to be available for all Australians.

The Australian share market has climbed to its highest level in more than four months as investors looked past surging local coronavirus cases to track gains on the US bourses.

Australia has passed the grim milestone of more than 500,000 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

Five new local COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Western Australia, with hundreds now being forced to isolate after potential exposures at an event.

The Australian share market has held on to steady gains despite a surge in local coronavirus cases, with investors focusing on reports about the raging Omicron variant being less severe than previous variants.

New daily COVID-19 infections have again skyrocketed across Australia's two most populous states as calls grow for booster shots to be sped up.

Investors rushed for technology shares on a mixed Australian market, but an analyst warned of big changes facing tech investors.

Rio Tinto has signed a deal to buy the Rincon lithium project in Argentina for $US825 million ($A1.2 billion) as majors eye a supply crunch later this decade.

Woodside has signed with Asian partners to develop a long-term supply chain of sustainable hydrogen from Western Australia to Singapore and potentially Japan.

Western Australia's health system is set to come under extraordinary pressure when interstate borders reopen, even without a surge in local COVID-19 hospitalisations, doctors have warned.

Investors enjoyed their best day on the ASX in almost two weeks as the Reserve Bank gave no hint of imminent rate rises and buyers returned for CSL shares.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will discuss with premiers and chief ministers time frames for booster shots and masks mandates to curb COVID-19's spread.

Investors found few gifts on the Australian market at the start of Christmas week as the prospect of reintroducing virus restrictions weighed on energy and bank shares.

Australia has struck a deal to increase the local manufacturing of urea amid a global shortage, but Western Roads has expressed concerns that WA could be left out.

Afterpay and rivals Zip and Sezzle have fallen heavily on the Australian share market due to a possible US probe into consumer harms from their services.

Western Australia will be effectively closed to every state and territory for Christmas under plans to further strengthen border controls.

Winemakers have welcomed a new trade deal between Australia and the United Kingdom, while sugar, beef and sheep exports are also expected to benefit.

NAB chairman Philip Chronican has assured investors he is yet to learn of any fines from a financial crimes regulator investigating money laundering.

A heavy fall for market giant CSL has prevented Australian investors from enjoying a lower jobless rate and an overnight rally on the US market.

Jobs in WA grew 1.6 per cent in November, with unemployment falling to 3.8 per cent, while east coast states posted strong improvements.

Shares had their biggest loss on the Australian market in more than two weeks as investors brace for the final US Federal Reserve decisions of the year.

Western Australia's Labor-dominated upper house has pushed through the government's contentious Aboriginal heritage legislation overnight, despite protests by Indigenous groups.

Woolworths and Afterpay shares had sizeable falls as investors questioned their short-term outlook and kept the Australian market steady.

The federal government will appoint Gina Cass-Gottlieb as the ACCC's first female head, replacing outgoing chairman Rod Sims.

Retail giant Woolworths has endured one of its most challenging trading periods following the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.

There was plenty of optimism to start the week on the Australian share market, despite a US Federal Reserve meeting looming and more warnings about Omicron.

Crown Resorts leaders are not pinning their hopes on a Blackstone takeover and have spruiked the potential of the Sydney casino to encourage higher offers.