Personal loan provider and pawn broker Cash Converters International issued $23 million in loans in December, a new record, as its online business continued to grow.
The Australian dollar is lower, weighed down by expectations that the Reserve Bank will cut the cash rate for a second time in 2015 in the coming months.
When the Reserve Bank of Australia repeatedly throughout 2014 flagged a "period of stability" for interest rates, you could have been forgiven for thinking it was signalling a period of stability for interest rates.
The share market has rallied to a six-year high due to Rio Tinto's massive shareholder returns, rising oil prices and optimism from a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
Balamara Resources has announced plans to delist from the Australian Securities Exchange after citing the high cost of maintaining its listing and an inability to raise new capital.
Wall Street stocks have finished little changed as investors eyed key Brussels talks on Greece's demands to renegotiate its international bailout as the risk of a debt default looms.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has unveiled a record $4.62 billion half-year profit, but warned weak consumer and business confidence levels are threatening the economy and has placed the problem squarely at the federal government's feet.
Wall Street stocks have rallied, with tech giant Apple hitting an all-time high and investors applauding encouraging earnings from Coca-Cola and other upbeat company news.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's profit is expected to have hit a record of at least $4.5 billion in the first half of the financial year, as it rides the wave of a booming housing market.
The Australian sharemarket is trading lower and could be on its way to ending 12 straight sessions of gains, as investors react to sluggish Chinese trade figures and take profits.
