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Australia's share market has surged more than two per cent as investors buy up stocks across the board after another sharp rise in US equities.

Retail rescue: rent, tax relief

Oil prices lost more than $US1 a barrel overnight as restrictions on travel worldwide slashed fuel demand.

Gold prices jumped to a two-week high overnight, after a record surge in US jobless claims dented the dollar and boosted expectations of further stimulus to cushion the global economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

Roger Cook has confirmed 231 COVID-19 cases in WA. The state government will fund $3 million to coronavirus-related research. There will be easier access to some prescription medicines. New maternity hospital will be deferred.

Western Australia’s biggest building surveyor has warned an insurance impasse could halt major construction and infrastructure jobs across the state, with surveyors facing cost hike challenges and delays in renewing professional indemnity insurance.

Australian shares have rallied for a third straight day after a massive US stimulus deal sent global markets soaring.

Just Jeans, Peter Alexander and Smiggle are among several Australian brands set to close their doors tonight due to the COVID-19 crisis, while commercial landlord Dexus has withdrawn its earnings guidance for 2020.

Cedar Woods Properties has released the first lots at its Solaris Private Estate near Forrestdale, the company’s newest land subdivision in Western Australia.

Decisions on two LNG projects worth a combined $22 billion are likely to be delayed from this year to 2021, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie, while many producers have cut back to only essential staff.

RAC is the latest business to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, announcing it will temporarily close all nine of its parks and resorts throughout Western Australia until May.

Blue-chip miner Northern Star Resources has predicted the rest of the industry will be forced to follow its lead in making radical and costly changes to their operations to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state government has this morning announced that it is encouraging parents to keep their children at home, reflecting what it said were new guidelines based on national medical advice.

Oil and gas explorer Otto Energy is looking to raise up to $17.5 million, despite current market conditions, to fund the development of its well in the Gulf of Mexico.

East Perth-based Uno Group is publishing online bi-weekly updates on consumer trends during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to help businesses deal with the hardships brought on by measures to contain the virus.

Hospitality businesses are making difficult decisions about whether to stay open and offer takeaway options or close.

Seven passengers aboard the Artania anchored off Perth have tested positive for coronavirus, prompting WA Premier Mark McGowan to call on the navy to help get the cruise ship to leave.

Virus-ravaged travel firm Flight Centre says an initial 6,000 of its sales and support staff globally will either be stood down or made redundant in the company's latest bid to preserve a future.

Australian shares have rallied more than two per cent for a third straight day of morning gains after a massive US stimulus deal sent global markets soaring.

Funds may not insure pandemic deaths

US crude prices rose slightly overnight, bolstered by progress on the US economic stimulus package, but government data shows the coronavirus pandemic started to hurt US fuel demand last week.

Palladium prices rocketed overnight as a lockdown in major producer South Africa exacerbated supply woes, while gold inched up as markets eyed US stimulus.

Some people find transitioning from an office environment to working from home difficult, but it needn’t be.

800 cruise ship passengers to be quarantined at Rottnest. WA's COVID-19 cases rise by 30 to 205. Premier Mark McGowan introduces alcohol sale restrictions. Australia's COVID-19 cases rise by 287 to 2,423.

The ‘rainy day’ has arrived, and a former WA treasurer is calling on the McGowan government to do more.

NRW Holdings managing director Jules Pemberton has sold 3.65 million shares to fund personal tax liabilities, at a price that was less than half the January peak in the company's share price.

Australian shares have achieved back-to-back gains for the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, rallying in the final minutes of trade on reports that US politicians have reached a deal on a massive US stimulus deal to shore up the world's biggest economy.

Nationals MP Vince Catania has called on the state government to urgently launch a campaign to tell tourists to stop travelling to the regions immediately and for visitors already there to go home, with vulnerable communities and agricultural industries at high risk because of a lack of capacity in regional healthcare.

Pilbara Minerals has signed a five-year offtake agreement with China-based Yibin Tianyi to supply lithium from its Pilgangoora project in Western Australia.

Perenti Global has put dividends on hold to boost its financial position in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but says the virus has not yet affected the business.

One of Western Australia’s top land developers is continuing to prepare for future growth, with Satterley Property Group splashing more than $66 million on new projects in Perth.

In a single month, the entire tourism industry has been turned on its head, with operators big and small subject to a harsh new reality.