Oil prices have risen for a second day, closing more than 1 per cent higher as support grew for OPEC output cuts a day after the US government reported a big draw in crude inventories, boosting confidence that a global glut might diminish.
Gold has risen as US and European stock markets retreated, but its gains have been curtailed after data showing a tightening jobs market and accelerating inflation briefly lifted the US dollar.
The new bank levy has opened a Pandora's box that leaves Australia's biggest financial institutions exposed to even higher costs in future, according to a leading industry analyst.
Oil prices have risen more than three per cent, bolstered by the biggest one-week drop in US inventories so far this year, and after Iraq and Algeria joined Saudi Arabia in supporting an extension to OPEC supply cuts.
Gold has turned lower but has held above the previous day's eight-week low as US President Trump's abrupt firing of FBI chief James Comey weighed on US stocks, though gains were capped by expectations of further interest rate increases.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi has accused the premier and opposition leader of political interference in a legal process after they demanded her resignation over serious breaches of local government laws.
Big banks have warned that customers and shareholders will carry the cost of the federal government's surprise $6.2 billion levy on Australia's largest financial institutions.
The Australian dollar is slightly higher against its US counterpart after having lost almost half a per cent before the federal budget helped prompt a turnaround.
Oil prices have fallen rattled by concern over slowing demand, a rising US dollar and increasing US crude output that has shaken investors' faith in the ability of OPEC to rebalance the market.
Gold has dropped to an eight-week low as safe-haven demand continues to fade in the wake of Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French election and as expectations for tighter US monetary policy lifted bond yields.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi says her resolve to continue in her role is steely and “stronger than ever” despite being found yesterday to have breached the Local Government Act 45 times.
OPINION: The federal government’s recently announced Productivity Commission review of GST sharing among the states is good news for Western Australia, but the state government should be realistic about the outcome.
Opposition leader Mike Nahan has joined Premier Mark McGowan in calling for Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi to resign, after the State Administrative Tribunal today found she had committed 45 serious breaches of the Local Government Act by not disclosing travel and accommodation gifts.
Oil have risen amid volatile trading, bolstered by statements from major oil-producing countries suggesting that OPEC and non-OPEC supply cuts could be extended into 2018.
Gold prices have bounced off a seven-week low as safe-haven demand ebbs following pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election.
The Australian share market has snapped a four-day losing streak, after encouraging US jobs data, the election of pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron as French president, and other factors buoyed investors.
SPECIAL REPORT: The number of international students coming to Perth has grown strongly over the past four years, but WA is still underperforming, particularly in the university sector.
The balancing act that allowed Australia's big four banks to lift their combined first-half cash profit to $15.6 billion is getting more precarious, analysts say.
Gold has pared its gains after data shows US job growth rebounded in April and stayed on track for its biggest weekly loss in six months as expectations for a US interest rate hike in June grew and eurozone political risk receded.
Oil prices have closed 1.5 per cent higher, rebounding from five-month lows, following positive US jobs data and assurances by Saudi Arabia that Russia is ready to join OPEC in extending supply cuts to reduce a persistent glut.
Henderson-based shipbuilder Austal will open an Adelaide office for shipbuilding design and project management as it seeks to win a $3 billion federal government contract to build 12 new offshore patrol vessels.
Corporate Australia wants Canberra to deliver wider tax cuts for business and boost "good" spending in the federal budget next week, even as it urges the politicians to agree on a quicker path to a budget surplus.
Oil prices have plunged to five-month lows amid record trading volume in Brent crude, as OPEC and other producers appeared to rule out deeper supply cuts to reduce the world's persistent glut of crude.
Gold prices have fallen to the lowest in more than six weeks, on expectations of further US interest rate increases this year and receding political uncertainty in Europe.
A former New Zealand bureaucrat has been appointed to lead a three-person panel that will conduct a review into the state’s public service, where Premier Mark McGowan is targeting $750 million in savings.
