BUSINESS

The Australian share market closed at its highest level since late April as traders reacted positively to the potential blocking of BHP Billiton's $40 billion Canadian fertiliser bid.

Broadband provider Optus was found guilty of violating the provisions of the country’s Trade Practices Act as a Federal Court determined that the telco firm deceived and misled consumers during its campaign blitz that commenced April this year.

Australian stocks ended at a fresh six month closing high today, as the US stimulus package boosted investor sentiment around the region. Qantas (QAN) shares were also in focus after one of the airline's A380 planes suffered a mid-air emergency before landing safely in Singapore.

Australian retailers are increasingly concerned of the sector's persistent weakness even during traditional shopping periods.

The weak US dollar will continue to fuel the higher prices of commodities considered as the next safest forms of investment.

Travellers can look forward for a much better access to Brisbane Airport as work on the bypass road to the terminal has been progressing well and first stage of the project should be unveiled within the next few days.

Australian consumers are much less likely to trust opinions of financial services providers than those of non experts, new research has revealed.

Centro Properties Group (CNP.AU) shares have risen by 3.1 percent as the company announced it is engaging in new negotiations with possible new investors interested to acquire its business and assets.

Those SUVs keep on rolling out from car dealers’ stations and helped Australian motor vehicle sales surging as of the month of October, according to the latest car sales figures furnished by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Thursday.

BVN Architecture, one of Australia's largest architectural practices with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, won the Health Category award at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) this evening (Wednesday 3 November) in Barcelona for the Youth Mental Health Building at the Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) in Camperdown, Sydney.

The Australian economy is still nursing some soft spots as the latest retails sales data suggested that consumers remain wary of spending their hard-earned money.

Following its breach of the $6 billion profit mark this week, media reports circulated that Westpac Banking Corporation is mulling the separation of up to 6000 jobs across its operations within the next two years.

The rising Australian dollar is crushing Australia's export industry, new data show as the Aussie overnight powered to $1.0064, its highest since 1982, after the Federal Reserve began a new chapter in quantitative easing.

The Australian share market has soared to a six month high in early trade, following a strong lead from Wall Street which led to the Australian dollar breaching parity against the greenback.

Now, luxury enthusiasts do not need to leave the comfort of their homes in snatching those designer goods sitting on store shelves as they too have found their way on monitor screens, all for the taking with the use of some finger strokes by Aussie shoppers.

The government of Australia may be willing to compromise and put up new concessions on its proposed minerals resource rent tax that will satisfy the country's mining industry.

US dollar selling is once again the name of the game following the overnight announcement from the US Federal Reserve of their intentions to pump more money into the US economy.

U.S. stocks bounced in and out of positive territory but are now rising, while the dollar and the 10 year Treasury plunged, after the Federal Reserve said it would buy $600 billion in longer-term securities by the middle of next year as part of its latest effort to prime the domestic economy.

Believing at the moment that ceding control of the world’s biggest fertiliser producer to a foreign entity amounts to insufficient net benefit for Canada, its federal government shut the door for now on BHP Billiton Ltd’s $US40 billion or $A40.13 billion takeover bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

The long-awaited and much-discussed stimulus measures in the US have been announced which has sent the Australian Dollar soaring above par with the greenback to 1.0045 at time of writing.

The US Federal Reserve has unveiled greater purchases of securities in order to inject fresh stimulus into the economy: ´´The Committee will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings.

The Australian dollar has hit again the high note against the US currency as a result of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to pour more money into the American economy in the coming months.

The Australian share market hit a six month high to close stronger on Wednesday as investors remained optimistic about economic data from offshore due overnight.

The local share market was well supported today, ahead of an expected injection of stimulus by the US Federal Reserve.

Telstra added a policy control capability to its Next G network.

In an effort to bolster the prospect of more profits for its shareholders, Westfield Group gave birth to Westfield Retail Trust on Wednesday, which it said would consolidate up to 50 percent of the property group’s Australian and New Zealand assets.

Strativity Group, a leading provider of customer experience services, today announced it has opened an office in Sydney to support growing interest from Australian and New Zealand organisations in adopting customer-centric approaches and proactively managing their customer experiences.

Homeowners hurting after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (ASX:CBA) shock 0.45 per cent rate rise should get a better deal instead of getting mad, according to an independent home loan information provider that connects home buyers with some of the cheapest bank loans in the country.

The Queensland government has recently granted the approval to Xstrata Zinc Australia's expansion project of the George Fisher Mine in Mount Isa.