AAP

Growing inflation worldwide is casting a pall over the global economic recovery and risks hurting the financial system, China's top banking regulator has been quoted as saying.

The world's biggest miner BHP Billiton says it is the first operator to bring a new well online in the Gulf of Mexico since last year's BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The Australian share market closed marginally lower despite investors being buoyed by the central bank's largely unchanged outlook for the domestic economy.

The political outrage over out-of-cycle interest rate rises late last year was without foundation, the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) says.

The well-anticipated decision to leave Australia's interest rates steady wasn't accompanied by any clear signal a widely-expected increase is imminent.

Farmers will be able to file their agricultural census forms online for the first time in 2011, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says.

Treasury modelling shows putting a price on carbon will not cut jobs, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

The operation of global markets will be irrevocably transformed by the growth of cloud computing, an internet researcher says.

Qantas Airways Ltd shares have fallen hard after domestic rival Virgin Australia announced plans to enter a long-term partnership with aviation powerhouse Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Aquila Resources says a dispute with Brazilian mining giant Vale could affect sales from its Isaac Plains coal mine in Queensland after a customer cancelled a coal shipment.

Virgin Australia has announced plans to enter an alliance with Singapore Airlines from August this year.

Australian shares have opened lower again after a fourth consecutive fall on Wall Street due to concerns about ongoing economic weakness.

Australia's construction industry has shrunk for the twelfth consecutive month and looks highly vulnerable to further interest rate rises, a survey has found.

Falling bank shares dragged US stock markets down for the fourth straight trading day Monday, with worries their margins would be under pressure from the slow economy.

The Australian dollar was over a third of a US cent lower yesterday, ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates on and amid global risk aversion.

Resources boom to keep rolling – The Aus; Miners ready for workplace war – The Aus; WA port rebuff to rest Buckeridge – The Fin; Dispute stops coal shipments – The Aus; Iluka rides high on rutile – The West

Mining magnate Clive Palmer says he has secured an extra $1.2 billion of funding from a major Chinese bank to help construct his $8 billion coal project in Queensland.

The Australian dollar closed three-quarters of a US cent higher due to US dollar weakness after the release of poor employment data in the United States.

The Australian share market suffered more falls on Monday amid weak global markets, continuing a downward trend that has lasted more than a month.

Shares in ThinkSmart gained 3.7 per cent after the computer and office equipment financing company completed a new multi-funder securitisation platform.

Australian beef is being placed under the microscope after a restaurant owner said he suspected it was to blame for an outbreak of E.coli in Japan.

West Australian Labor Party frontbencher Ben Wyatt says he's appalled and embarrassed by the federal government's decision to send unaccompanied children to Malaysia as part of its asylum seeker deal.

Shares in Qantas Airways have slumped to their lowest point in nearly two years due to an analyst downgrade of the stock and more cost cutting measures.

Aboriginal traditional owners, tourism operators and environmentalists fear one of Australia's last remaining wilderness areas could become a giant quarry if it is not heritage listed.

Rio Tinto's boss of Australian operations says exports such as coal and iron ore were too important to economy to be lost offshore due to a carbon tax.

Australian shares lost further ground today due to low expectations for the next round of economic data due out of the United States.

Borrowers are likely to be spared an interest rate rise when the board of Reserve Bank of Australia meets next week, but a hike is coming soon and there may be more than one before the end of 2011.

Foster's Brewing Group has moved to hose down speculation that two international brewers could be planning a joint takeover of the Australian beer company.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing pressure from the Greens, unions, lobby groups and Labor colleagues to ban live animal exports.

Former Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King says he hasn't been offered, nor is he seeking, a position on the construction company's board.

Retailers will be forced to cut down on staff and reduce hours for casuals on the back of the minimum wage rise, a lobby group says.

Australia's lowest paid workers will get an extra $19.40 a week but unions say the increase is not enough and fails to close the gap between minimum wage earners and the rest of the workforce.