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Australian shares have closed lower due to weakness from the major banks and investor caution over the US government shutdown.

3D printing company Aurora Labs has strengthened its board, announcing the appointments of non-executive chairman Paul Kristensen and director Mel Ashton effective today.

The state government has signed the stage two agreement for Western Australia's new $428 million museum with managing contractor Multiplex, construction of which is scheduled for completion in mid-2019.

Premier Mark McGowan is confident an attendance cap at Optus Stadium for a potential Big Bash League semi-final will not be required, following yesterday's successful community open day at the 60,000-seat facility.

Domain's shares have plummeted following the surprise resignation of its chief executive, Antony Catalano, which comes less than four months after the real estate classifieds business listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Australian shares are flat in early trade despite key indexes around the world having finished the week firmly stronger.

Stadium lauded as new era of sport dawns

The Australian dollar is lower against a US counterpart weighed down by the threat of a US government shutdown.

Oil prices have fallen, breaking a four-week winning streak after a rally that had taken benchmarks to three-year highs, as investors sold positions on re-emerging US production concerns.

Gold prices have risen slightly as the dollar hovered near a three-year low on heightened fears of a US government shutdown, but the precious metal was still on track for its first weekly drop in six weeks.

The Australian share market has closed lower on concerns around a possible US government shutdown, while the Aussie dollar is trading at a four-month high.

A 40 per cent rise in project applications with the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety last year has provided another signal of a turnaround in the mining sector.

Sir Ron Brierley-chaired Mercantile Investment Company has increased its bid for Perth-based Bauxite Resources to 11 cents, putting it within the price range set out in the independent expert's report.

Fortescue Metals Group founder and chair Andrew Forrest has seen his stake in the miner increase $249 million in value over the past four weeks, according to data on directors' shareholdings tracked by Business News.

Battery Minerals has locked in offtake agreements for 60 per cent of the forecast annual production at its Montepuez graphite project in Mozambique after announcing a supply deal with a Chinese company today.

Shares in Perth-based oil and gas explorer Po Valley Energy have skyrocketed today after the company announced a discovery at its Selva gas field in northern Italy.

Woodside revs up China gas push

The Australian dollar is fractionally shy of 80 US cents, with the US dollar weakening ovenight amid fears of a possible federal government shutdown.

Western Australia's unemployment rate has fallen by a surprising 0.9 per cent in the month of December, while job numbers were up for a record-equalling 15th consecutive month nationwide, with economists giving positive assessments of the labour market.

Perth-based Battery Minerals has signed an offtake deal for the supply of graphite concentrate at its Montepuez project in Mozambique to a private Chinese company.

Australian shares have closed barely lower, with banks and consumer stocks among the few sectors to record gains as energy and mining stock weakness weighed on the market.

Melbourne-based Nacap Australia has won the contract to build a 200-kilometre gas pipeline to Gold Road Resources' Gruyere project near Laverton, and is pursuing other significant projects in Western Australia.

A company selling car repair warranties will refund $4.9 million to thousands of customers who were sold high-priced cover by sales staff chasing bigger commissions.

Perth-based gold explorer Tietto Minerals got off to a solid start in trading today after raising $6 million in its initial public offering.

The state's domestic gas market will soon receive a small supply boost, with Woodside Petroleum's Pluto project expected to begin pumping up to 25 terajoules a day into the network from the second half of this year.

Junior explorer Spitfire Materials has tapped investors for $5.3 million via a strongly supported share placement as the company ramps-up exploration work at its Western Australian gold project.

BHP Billiton has lifted production of copper, nickel and energy coal for the first half of fiscal 2018, but volumes were flat in its iron ore business while petroleum and metallurgical coal volumes were down.

Australian shares have opened comfortably higher after a strong positive lead from Wall Street with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 26,000 points for the first time.

Wesfarmers closes in on US chemical firm Cyanco

Critics of sandalwood company Quintis, who are already calling for a spill of current directors, are now pushing to replace the responsible entity overseeing its 2002 project.

Local contractor EC&M has announced it has been awarded a series of contracts with a combined value of approximately $130 million, including a joint venture project in New South Wales with West Perth-based CPC Engineering.

The Australian share market has closed lower, with the materials sector heavily sold down on shifting commodity prices and expectations of a correction.