Latest Headlines

Oil prices in New York have fallen on a weak US crude demand outlook, while European oil prices have risen on concerns about Libya and new European Union sanctions on Russia.

US stocks have finished lower after the United States and European Union broadened sanctions on Russia, overshadowing US economic data and earnings reports.

Drilling fluids and equipment supplier Imdex has sold its stake in Sino Gas & Energy Holdings, raking in $17 million from the sale.

The share market has closed slightly higher after iron ore miners reversed early losses.

Potash West has announced it will farm into a historic potash producing region of Germany under a joint venture agreement, with a right to earn 55 per cent if it funds early exploration activities in the South Harz potash district.

Poseidon Nickel has released its June quarter update, after acquiring the Black Swan project from Norilsk for $1.5 million.

Austbrokers Holdings has expanded into the Western Australian broking sector with the purchase of a 50 per cent interest in Bunbury-based insurance broker NEXUS Risk Services.

Business confidence appears to be improving if the increase in the number of business startups is anything to go by.

A Perth tech start-up is launching a new web platform it hopes will simplify the process of delivering public presentations.

In the final installment of our four-part series on EY Entrepreneur of the Year nominees, we talk to chief executives of six contracting and consulting businesses.

Owners of graphite stocks have enjoyed strong returns during the past year on the back of demand for the mineral's use in lithium ion batteries, however it is the potential to tap new markets that has some in the sector even more excited.

The private developer of a 150 megawatt power station with contracts to Fortescue Metals Group has announced the all inclusive cost of the project will be $570 million.

New home sales rebounded slightly in Western Australia in June, following the first fall in 2014 in the previous month, according to the latest research from the Housing Industry Association.

Have you ever thought about the way you think? How do thoughts just pop into your head? How do you create an idea?

Education provider Navitas has confirmed it is in advanced negotiations with US-based and other global learning institutions, saying it would reveal details of a partnership as early as this week.

Gold producers Resolute Mining and Troy Resources have released their quarterly activities reports for the June quarter, with Troy's share price falling more than 22 per cent on the results.

Property transactions in the agribusiness sector are heating up, with considerable activity in the first six months of 2014, according to Colliers International.

Perth-based engineering groups Kerman Contracting and Monadelphous Group have announced contract wins collectively worth more than $300 million at CITIC Pacific Mining's Sino Iron development near Cape Preston.

Midland's Dome Coffees franchise opposite the Midland Gate Shopping Centre has been sold to a private investor for $2.7 million, in a deal brokered by commercial real estate group CBRE.

Shares in former Perth-based company IMX Resources have more than doubled today, as the company has announced a significant graphite deposit at its Nachingwea property in Tanzania, with a graphitic unit up to 500 metres wide and more than 10 kilometres long.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has joined the leaders of other major resources companies in calling for the scrapping of the mining tax.

The state government has completed a $6.7 million upgrade to the water supply scheme for Halls Creek to support the future growth of the town.

Formerly Perth-based IMX Resources has announced a significant graphite deposit at its Nachingwea property in Tanzania, with a graphitic unit up to 500 metres wide and more than 10 kilometres long.

The mining sector has reached a new five-year low, with confidence levels likely to take years to recover, according to industry leaders surveyed in the latest Mining Business Outlook report.

Perth-based Datacom Systems WA has beefed up its data centre capacity as demand for hosted and cloud-based services grows.

Chemical giant Orica said it has regretted a series of pollution incidents which resulted in it being fined more than $750,000 and has pledged to improve the facilities where the problems happened.

Hundreds of hospital support workers in Perth will stop work today to protest against potential job losses when the new Fiona Stanley Hospital opens.

The Australian share market is slightly lower after a weak lead from the US and another profit downgrade from insurer QBE.

US stocks have finished mixed following prominent corporate deals and a drop in pending home sales as investors look ahead to fresh earnings and labour market data.

The Australian dollar is back above 94 US cents, getting a boost from improved Chinese industrial profits.

Oil prices have dropped in spite of worsening violence in Libya and ongoing trouble in other petroleum hotspots as traders focus on the lofty state of oil supplies.

Is our apartments boom a natural development, or something prompted by over-regulation?