The Australian share market has closed flat, with the financial sector weighing on the market and offsetting strong gains from commodity-related stocks.
Australian shares opened flat after a tumble on Wall Street overnight, but local energy shares were on a good run with oil prices surging amid a global supply standoff.
Australian shares opened flat after a tumble on Wall Street overnight, but local energy shares were on a good run with oil prices surging amid a global supply standoff.
Global Benchmark Brent crude has jumped more than three per cent to a four-year high above $US80 a barrel after Saudi Arabia and Russia ruled out any immediate increase in production despite calls by US President Donald Trump for action to raise global supply.
The S&P 500 and the Dow have closed lower after new US-China trade tariffs kicked in, dampening last week's hopes for talks between the two countries, and as investors awaited an expected interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Gold barely changed after the dollar dropped following remarks by the head of the European Central Bank, but then pared losses, although activity was muted ahead of a US central bank meeting this week.
Strong gains in the mining sector have lifted the Australian share market to finish the week higher as a major ratings agency upgraded its outlook on the country's credit standing and trade war worries recede.
A massive gold nugget worth at least $110,000 has been uncovered by a prospector in the northern Goldfields, weeks after Canadian gold miner RNC Minerals made an even bigger discovery near Kambalda.
Australian shares have followed Wall Street's overnight rise, with the heavyweight materials sector again driving early gains despite metals prices dropping.
Trade-sensitive industrial stocks have led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record closing high, the last of Wall Street's main indexes to fully regain ground since a correction that began in January.
Oil prices eased, pulling back after US President Donald Trump urged OPEC to increase production at its meeting in Algeria, and slowing bullish momentum that had previously propelled the market toward four-year highs.
Gold edged up to hit its highest in nearly a week as the US dollar slumped, its safe-haven appeal lessened by reduced fears over the near-term impact of Sino-US trade tensions.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has today set aside a decision by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to ban Robert Hutchison from providing financial services.
The six-month Plus Eight accelerator program reached its 2018 culmination last night, as seven startups pitched their growth and expansion plans to a sold-out audience.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrials Average have risen as bank stocks gained on rising Treasury yields, while a drop in Microsoft pressured the Nasdaq.
US oil futures surged nearly two per cent as they were bolstered by a fifth weekly crude inventory drawdown and strong domestic petrol demand amid ongoing global supply concerns over US sanctions on Iran that come into force in November.
Gold rose as the US dollar weakened, indicating investors are starting to worry about the impact of the US-China trade war on the US economy, luring some buyers back into precious metals investments.
Australian shares have opened higher, mirroring an overnight recovery on Wall Street after the heavyweight mining sector was helped by improved copper and iron ore prices.
Oil futures rose more than one per cent on signs that OPEC would not be prepared to raise output to address shrinking supplies from Iran, and as Saudi Arabia signaled an informal target near current levels.
The Australian share market is on course for its second worst month of 2018 after the Trump administration announced additional trade tariffs on China.
The state government has announced Janet Holmes a Court will replace Sam Walsh as chair of the Art Gallery of WA, amidst uncertainty around the future of chief executive Stefano Carboni.
