AAP

The Australian share market finished more than 0.4 per cent higher following a wave of investor enthusiasm in Japan and the US.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's computer systems have fallen victim to cyber hacking in at least two highly sophisticated online attacks.

CSR shares are down as the building products company prepares to cut about 150 staff.

Leighton subsidiary Thiess has won a new contract, worth $212 million, for work on Chevron's $52 billion Gorgon project in Western Australia.

The Australian share market has opened relatively flat as investors weigh up encouraging jobs data from the United States against disappointing economic figures from China.

Labor faces an absolute massacre in the September federal election if it doesn't respond to voter dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, a former state Labor MP says.

Australia's biggest resources companies will continue to enjoy the support of a conservative state government, industry commentators say.

The head of Australian poultry producer Ingham has agreed to sell the 95-year-old family business to US-based private equity group TPG Capital.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a fresh record for the fourth straight session on Friday helped by solid jobs data that was nonetheless seen unlikely to move the Fed to tighten monetary policy

The Australian dollar is almost unchanged ahead of the release of key US employment data.

The world's largest sandalwood plantation owner and manager, TFS Corporation, has teamed up with investment firm Hamilton Securities in pursuit of the sandalwood assets of agribusiness Elders.

The Australian share market closed higher, boosted by mining stocks after the release of a bumper trade report in China.

Australian firms are unlikely to get any relief from the relentless strength of the local dollar any time soon, particularly if overseas central banks keep pursuing policies that deflate their own

Woodside Petroleum has played down suggestions that its gas project in Israel is under threat as it faces regulatory hurdles.

Premier Colin Barnett may say tomorrow's state election will go down to the wire, but bookies don't agree, paying out early for an expected Liberal win.

Banks have rejected calls for a new tax on the industry, saying the move would hurt retirees and small businesses.

The competition watchdog has delayed its decision on Virgin Australia's proposed takeover of Tiger Airways Australia.

Australian shares remain near four-and-a-half year highs, pushed up by a fifth straight day of gains on Wall Street.

Just 24 additional women were appointed to the boardrooms of some of the nation's biggest companies over the past year, with men still outnumbering women six to one.

Growing investor enthusiasm for equities in the wake of this week's records pushed US markets higher again on Thursday.

Global miner BHP Billiton has rejected allegations that it manipulated the iron ore market, saying it seeks to improve transparency in its trade with China.

Premier Colin Barnett can breathe easy now - the Community and Public Sector Union says it will hold off on potential industrial action until after the state election.

Five people have been taken to hospital after a leak of chlorine gas at James Packer's Crown Casino complex at Burswood.

The Australian dollar spent the day trading lower after better than expected US employment figures boosted the greenback.

A call for Health Minister Kim Hames to be sacked over his response to a string of fatalities among patients discharged from Northam Hospital is understandable, the opposition says.

Federal Finance Minister Penny Wong has indicated the government isn't about to launch into a spending spree to garner votes for the September election.

ANZ has cut another 50 jobs, this time reducing staff in its institutional and international banking operations.

The Australian share market has finished lower, despite some resilience in the resources and materials sector.

Rail operator Aurizon has signed a deal to haul up to 65 million tonnes of coal a year from the Queensland mines of BM Alliance Coal Operations and BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal.

The federal government should use its powers to override state counterparts and stop some approvals for coal and coal seam gas mining, an environmental lobby group says.