Latest Headlines

Treasurer Joe Hockey has ruled out the federal government initiating an inquiry into iron ore, just one week after Prime Minister Tony Abbott backed the idea.

The Australian share market has closed higher as bargain hunters piled into most of the major banks, and the big miners found support from investors betting on further economic stimulus measures in China.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has been voted as Western Australia's most attractive employer at the annual Randstad Awards, a title it has won twice in three years.

Neale Fong-chaired Chrysalis Resources has announced its intention to enter the tech market by acquiring a Philippines-based company which operates a mobile banking, payments and remittance platform.

It should be clear by now to Andrew Forrest that his campaign for a political inquiry into the iron ore industry has done the company he runs, Fortescue Metals Group, more harm than good – and might even have stirred up trouble for another local billionaire, Gina Rinehart.

UK-based Bushveld Minerals has launched its second takeover bid for local coal explorer Lemur Resources in two years, this time proposing to acquire all the shares it doesn't own in the business for about $10.9 million.

Local IT firm ASG Group has won an $18 million contract to provide its cloud platform to the federal government under a five-year term.

Woodside Petroleum has provided some telling insights into how it plans to achieve $800 million in productivity gains by the end of next year; as well as chopping 600 jobs, it has slashed the number of vendors supplying its Australian business from 3,000 to 800.

Former Perth Wildcats chief executive and owner Andrew Vlahov has been flagged as the new head of thermal energy company Enerji, as the company announces a board shake-up.

A tunnel could be an easy alternative to save dozens of homes from being demolished to make way for the Perth Freight Link, the premier says.

Digital CC has completed a $3.5 million capital raising to fund the roll out of its remittance product AirPocket to Latin America and Caribbean markets.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has been hit with a $US25 million fine for violating a bribery law by treating foreign officials to trips to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Film and TV streaming service Quickflix has raised $775,000 from investors as it strives to compete with new competitors like Netflix.

The share market has opened higher due to strength in the healthcare and industrial sectors.

Gold prices are higher, briefly climbing to a new session high as the US dollar pared its gains after Federal Reserve minutes showed policy makers believed it would be premature to raise interest rates in June.

The Australian dollar is lower after hitting a three week low ahead of the release of details from the US central bank's latest policy meeting.

US stocks have finished mostly lower after a short-lived jump that came when the Federal Reserve's policy meeting minutes cast doubt on an interest rate hike in June.

For a second week, reported sales activity has fallen 8% and now sits marginally below the average for the year to date.

Oil prices have risen after data showed a drop in US petroleum supplies and production.

The Australian share market has closed slightly lower as a sharp fall in iron ore prices weighed upon the big miners.

Any residents who are forced out of their homes to make way for the Perth Freight Link will be "generously treated", the premier has promised.

With the mining downturn weighing on confidence, local small and medium-size businesses are feeling more negative about their economic prospects, according to a new report by Bibby Financial Services.

Iluka Resources hasn't given up on its United States operations despite incurring an $82 million writedown last year.

Shopping centre owner Scentre Group has lodged plans to spend $450 million expanding its Westfield Innaloo mall, with the proposal to cater for up to 500 apartments.

The federal government seems to have abandoned any effort at budget repair, and is instead focused on securing re-election.

Uber is considering legal action to challenge a tax office ruling that requires its drivers to pay GST in line with taxi operators.

Treasurer Mike Nahan has flagged the possibility of demolishing and replacing the outdated Royal Perth Hospital with a new tertiary health facility, after the state government was criticised for not setting aside $180 million for a major upgrade.

Fortescue Metals Group hopes that its calls for an inquiry into the iron ore market will generate enough public pressure to force rivals to rein in their expansion plans.

A Malaysian Sultan has emerged as the buyer of Dalkeith's Sunset Hospital matron's house, with the state government announcing the sale of the 1,993 square metre property for $8.5 million.

Mining junior RNI says a number of recent cost-cutting measures included staff redundancies and salary cuts across the board, as the company announced a $26.5 million recapitalisation plan to pay off debt.

Uranium miner Vimy Resources has received a $30 million financing package from a mining-focused private equity fund, to advance ongoing development of its flagship Mulga Rock project near Kalgoorlie.

Coles will expand the number of its own branded products to drive growth and to rival Woolworths' plans to match Aldi prices.