Latest Headlines

Red tape risks holding up frackers until 2021

Gold has slipped on expectations of more interest rate hikes following remarks from a US Federal Reserve official and as some investors booked profits after prices hit their highest in more than five weeks.

Global stocks have fallen, plagued by a flattening yield curve that sparked concerns about an economic slowdown in the United States and weakening expectations of a lasting US-China trade truce, while the US dollar steadied.

Oil prices dipped overnight ahead of a meeting of the world's biggest exporters, who will discuss cutting output to help shore up prices and curb excess supply.

The Australian share market has finished the day almost one per cent lower, in a broad-based sell-off sparked by worries there won't be a US-China trade truce.

Explaurum has asked shareholders to accept an $8 million placement from Alkane Resources on the same day a report from independent expert BDO said a hostile takeover bid from Ramelius Resources undervalued the gold explorer.

A collaboration led by Curtin University and including local blockchain business Power Ledger has started its latest peer-to-peer trading trial in Fremantle, funded by the federal government's Smart Cities Initiative, while DigitalX has launched a new incubator for blockchain technology in Kings Park.

Perth rich lister and Mineral Resources director Tim Roberts has bought a $29.6 million stake in the diversified mining company.

Perth-based Keslake Group has won a $6.5 million state government contract to build a 2.8-kilometre bicycle path alongside the Fremantle railway line.

Bankwest has signalled its desire to expand its east coast presence, by signing a multi-year naming rights deal with the NSW government for a new 30,000-seat stadium in western Sydney.

A state government report released today on Fifo mental health has prompted an immediate response, with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA and mental health organisation Lifeline WA announcing a new partnership.

thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Australia will design and build the world’s largest rail-mounted stackers in Western Australia after winning a $250 million contract for BHP Group’s $4.6 billion South Flank iron ore project.

Perth-based digital agency Firefly360 has boosted staff numbers in preparation for an increase in work next year, adding three experienced members to its team.

Housing affordability is improving in Western Australia, but the number of first homebuyers active in the market has continued to decline, according to new research by the Real Estate Institute of Australia and Adelaide Bank.

A 10 per cent surge in the level of business investment in machinery and equipment has helped Western Australia’s state final demand grow 0.4 per cent in the September quarter, as national economic data surprised on the downside.

Mark Pownall and Kreepy Krauly director Sarah Davis discuss the finer details of the second generation Perth-based family business, which was founded by Terry Jackson.

New industrial projects planned for the Burrup Peninsula will need to co-exist with the area’s heritage features.

WA accommodation providers have somewhat grudgingly learned to live with third-party intermediaries, or online booking channels.

Having sat vacant for the better part of a decade, the 111-year-old North Perth police station is again a place where lessons are learned, with EMCO Building having converted the site into an early learning centre.

Australian shares have plunged at the open after a dismal overnight session on Wall Street, where trade anxieties flared and fears of a growth slowdown mounted.

Gold-hunt spending rockets

Wall Street has tumbled more than 3 per cent, led lower by bank and industrial shares, as the US bond market sent unsettling signs about economic growth and investors worried anew about global trade.

Oil prices pared gains in a volatile trade overnight as fears flared that demand would stall due to a trade war between the US and China, and that Russia remained a stumbling block to a deal to cut global crude supply.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the funeral of the late Stan Perron this afternoon, with his daughter Elizabeth Perron promising to maintain his legacy as a great philanthropist.

Indonesian coal mining group PT Bayan will pay $226 million to acquire the remaining shares in ASX-listed coal play Kangaroo Resources it does not already own, after the Supreme Court of Western Australia approved the takeover deal.

Austal will build a ferry for the government of Trinidad & Tobago, in a deal worth approximately $97.7 million, while also announcing it had won an advanced $54.9 million order for materials to construct a transport vessel for the US Navy.

The Australian share market suffered near-across the board losses as the positive sentiment from the trade truce brokered at the G20 summit dissipates.

FBR and Caterpillar have terminated their memorandum of understanding for Caterpillar to build and distribute FBR’s robot bricklaying machines worldwide.

The Reserve Bank has kept the official cash rate at a record low and reiterated its economic growth forecasts, but is keeping a close eye on the stumbling east coast housing markets.

ASX-listed property investment fund Centuria has acquired two adjacent industrial properties in Perth’s eastern suburbs for $23.8 million.

Valmec has secured $25 million worth of construction contracts, including at Mineral Resources’ Wodgina project, while fellow local contractor Weststar Industrial was awarded a $4 million contract at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine near Newman.

Exporters have agreed to place a three-month moratorium on sheep exports to the Middle East, months after TV footage revealed poor conditions on board a live export vessel departing Fremantle.