Sharon Olalia

The Australian share market closed more than one per cent lower, led by sharp declines in the banking and resources sectors.

Local stocks suffered their biggest one day fall since August today in response to huge falls on global markets overnight.

The typical CEO is taking home almost 100 times that of the average worker, a new analysis of remuneration at Australia's 50 largest companies reveals.

Australian stocks are trading at one month lows after global markets were heavily sold off overnight, due to concerns about Eurozone debt and Chinese inflationary pressures.

Ausenco Limited (ASX: AAX), an Australia-based engineering and project management group, today confirmed that it had returned to growth in the second half of 2010.

Spending on IT in the financial markets sector will experience positive growth in 2011 as companies look to improve performance and comply with new regulations, says an independent technology analyst.

The Australian Greens' proposal to restrict bank interest rates poses problems, according to a leading market research agency.

The Australian Dollar continued to trade lower overnight following the sell off in equity markets on concerns over European sovereign debt.

U.S. stocks swooned in their biggest one day drop in nearly a month as fears mounted over a slowdown in Chinese economic growth and criticism of the Federal Reserve's recent action grew

The Australian dollar fell to its lowest level in over 2 weeks to 0.9724 against the US Dollar after minutes from the Reserve Bank showed its decision to raise interest rates another 25bp to 4.75% was 'finely balanced'.

US producer prices rose by a less than expected 0.4pct in October.

The Australian share market closed moderately higher on Tuesday, led by strong gains in the finance sector.

Australian stocks closed slightly firmer today, led by financial stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed up 9.5pts or 0.2pct to 4782.8.

Bankers said today's minutes from the Reserve Bank Board's Monetary Policy meeting confirm that the cost of banks' funding has increased beyond the official cash rate.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) said Tuesday it is continuing to conduct due diligence on a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank, dismissing media reports that the Melbourne-based lender had lost out to another bidder.

The board of the Reserve Bank of Australia had anticipated that bank lending rates could increase by more than the cash rate, according to the minutes of the Nov 2 meeting released on Tuesday.

The local share market is trading fairly flat in early trade, following a mixed offshore lead. US stocks ended relatively unchanged while base metals prices were mostly weaker on the London metals exchange.

A multibillion-dollar takeover bid for AXA Asia Pacific (ASX: AXA) hit a potential hurdle on Tuesday when the Australian company's board failed to meet a key condition of unanimously backing the proposal.

While the AUD strengthened during the offshore session, pushing back above USD0.9900, a late sell off of US equities has seen our local currency weaken back to the levels seen yesterday.

U.S. stocks climbed broadly Monday as a bigger than expected increase in retail sales for October set a positive tone for the holiday shopping season set to kick off in earnest next week.

Motor vehicle sale figures in Australia for October decreased by -0.6% compared to the month prior.

US retail sales rose by 1.2pct in October - marking the biggest monthly gain in seven months and well ahead of expectations (0.7pct).

Toyota Australia today said its LandCruiser, which has the longest history of any Toyota nameplate, has passed 750,000 sales in the country during the 60th anniversary year of the iconic off-roader.

The Australian share market closed flat on Monday as weakness among materials stocks outweighed strength in the banking sector

Local stocks edged slightly lower in afternoon trade as mining stocks turned negative. Merger and acquisition activity had earlier supported the market.

ING Direct, Australia's fifth largest retail bank, announced today it will increase its residential variable home loan rates by 0.38% p.a. effective from 16 November 2010.

The number of merchants charging fees for credit card transactions has risen steeply over the past few years, according to a report commissioned by the NSW government.

Elders (ASX:ELD), an Australian based agribusiness company, today declared a positive start to the financial year as it nearly halved its annual net loss.

Australian stocks have ignored a weak offshore lead and are instead being supported by a raft of company news in early trade.