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The Australian dollar is in positive territory despite collapsing oil prices and another wild night of losses on global stock markets.

Gold has risen two per cent, benefiting as global equity markets fell to two-and-a-half-year lows and oil prices continued their relentless slump to a 13-year low, leading other commodity markets broadly lower.

Wall Street's recent sell-off has deepened, with the S&P 500 closing at its lowest in over a year as US oil prices plummeted to 2003 lows.

City of Perth chief executive Gary Stevenson has been sacked, three years into a five-year contract, following a horror year for the council.

The state government has appointed the former head of the Victorian Country Fire Authority to lead an extensive inquiry into the Yarloop bushfire.

Mature-age university applications on the slide

Wall Street has ended flat after a choppy session as falling oil prices led to more carnage in energy stocks and an "in line" economic report showed slower growth in China.

The Australian dollar has held on to most of the gains made after weak Chinese economic data raised hopes of further stimulus measures from Beijing.

Gold has steadied, as the US dollar turns lower, US crude oil prices fall below $US29 per barrel and US equity markets pare gains.

Western Australian businesses borrowed more in the 12 months to the end of November while consumers borrowed much less, according to the latest lending figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Many small businesses may be unaware they already have access to a major tax incentive to fund research, in addition to the federal government’s new innovation package.

The state government will lay underground power lines in areas of the South West after the Yarloop bushfire racked up a $26 million damage bill to the region’s electricity network.

Paladin flags lower guidance revisions

The Australian dollar is softer ahead of crucial Chinese economic growth numbers.

Gold on Friday rose nearly two per cent, after dropping for four of the previous five sessions, as a weaker US dollar and falling equity markets underpinned demand for assets perceived as safer.

WA farmers reject Brookfield’s $9b Asciano takeover plan

The Australian dollar has tumbled to a seven-year low as risk sentiment soured in the wake of plunging oil prices and Chinese stocks.

Gold has risen nearly two per cent, after dropping for four of the previous five sessions, as a weaker US dollar and falling equity markets underpinned demand for assets perceived as safer.

WA chief executives are hoping a federal election year and a new direction from Malcolm Turnbull will ignite reforms needed to get the state moving again, according to the latest CEO survey by Business News.

The Australian share market has opened higher, driven by resource and financial stocks after a strong performance on Wall Street as the US earnings season got off to a strong start.

Gold has fallen sharply to a one-and-a-half-week low, pressured by a US Federal Reserve president's comments about potentially rethinking further rate hikes, triggering technical sell signals while

The Australian dollar is drifting higher following a recovery from China's share market and gains in most commodities.

A rally in battered energy shares led US stocks to rebound, while financials rose after upbeat results from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has put a freeze on salaries for all employees as it hunts for savings in the face of a continuing slump in commodities prices.

Western Australia’s unemployment rate fell 0.3 points, to 6.3 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms in December, as 8,000 people took on new employment.

The Australian share market has plunged by more two per cent in early trade, with losses across the board following a slump on Wall Street overnight.

US stocks have sold off sharply as a brief rally in beaten-down oil prices stalled after US data added to concerns about an oversupplied energy market.

The Australian dollar is down as Wall Street suffers following further losses on Chinese stock markets.

The Australian share market has broken its eight-day losing streak thanks to better-than-expected Chinese trade figures.

Nearly 100 Western Australian companies entered external administration last November, giving the state its highest share of the national total in nearly a decade.

If Woodside Petroleum is ever looking for a corporate slogan it could borrow a saying from the Dutch philosopher Erasmus: “in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king”.

Australia's biggest iron ore miners are expected to slash dividends next month as the price of the steel-making commodity dropped to $US40 a tonne overnight.