Western Australia's Liberal Premier Colin Barnett has welcomed the budget's tax reductions for small to medium sized businesses as a highlight that was particularly important for the state.
An increase of the small business tax threshold to $10 million and a reduction of the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent from July 1 is the first step in a plan to hit a rate of 25 per cent in a decade, Treasurer Scott Morrison said in his first budget.
Gold has risen to a fresh 15-month peak above $US1,300 an ounce in holiday-thinned trade as an early retreat in the US dollar drove prices higher, though it later eased as the US currency pared losses.
US stocks have risen, rebounding from losses last week, as financials gained with Berkshire Hathaway and weakness in the US dollar eased worries about earnings for multinationals.
Calls are mounting for a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate cut tomorrow despite new figures pointing to a very favourable business environment for Australian firms.
Gold and silver prices have rallied to their highest since January 2015 as the Bank of Japan's decision the previous day to hold off expanding monetary stimulus weighed heavily on the US dollar, and European and US stocks fell.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has told the Chinese company wanting to buy Australia's largest private landholder that its planned purchase is contrary to the national interest.
US stocks have closed down as the Bank of Japan's shocking call to cap monetary stimulus continued to rattle investors while a late day decline in Apple shares on remarks by billionaire investor Carl Icahn added to selling pressure.
Gold has risen more than one per cent as the Bank of Japan held off from expanding monetary stimulus, boosting the yen versus the US dollar, and after the Federal Reserve signalled it was in no rush to tighten monetary policy.
The cost of the state government’s Aubin Grove train station project has increased for the second time in the past year, with the cost now revised to $120 million.
Wall Street stocks edged up, US Treasury debt yields fell, and oil prices rose to the highest level of the year after the Federal Reserve signalled it was in no hurry to change policy.
Gold has risen for a third straight session, but has pared gains after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged but left the door ajar to a rise in June.
Perth has had its deepest quarter of deflation since the 1991 ‘recession we had to have’, with prices falling 0.6 per cent in the three months to March, driven by cooling house prices and cheaper fuel.
The S&P 500 has ticked up, buoyed by gains in the energy and materials sectors as soft economic data weakened the dollar, giving support to oil and gold prices.
Gold has rebounded after weaker-than-expected US durable goods data knocked the US dollar to a session low against the euro, but prices remained hemmed into a narrow range as a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting began.
Gold has risen as a retreat in the US dollar helped to tempt back some buyers after the previous session's 1.3 per cent slide, but moves were muted ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting this week.
US stock prices have fallen due to weaker oil prices and disappointing company results, while the dollar has retreated on profit-taking ahead of central bank policy meetings in the United States and Japan later this week.
Oil prices have slipped as producers hinted at more output, while US stocks had their first loss in four sessions after a mixed bag of earnings reports.
