Austar has reported a hefty decline in first half profit amid weak subscriber growth, but says demand for subscription television is returning.

The Australian dollar closed higher today after falling almost one US cent lower on Wednesday after the better-than-expected CPI figures.

Arrow Energy will be swallowed up by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina on August 23 after the final condition to their $3.45 billion joint takeover was met.

Oceanagold Corporation has reported an 80 per cent decrease in its half year net profit and expects gold production to increase in this year's second half

The Australian share market broke a four day winning streak today, despite an afternoon buying frenzy which briefly the main indices in the black.

Australia's share market has snapped a four-day winning streak, after finishing a little weaker despite gains to miners.

The ASX has created a disciplinary panel to handle breaches of market integrity rules.

Across Asia, most regional markets are following US leads to be convincingly higher in midday trade.

Shares in Centro Properties Group rose after it announced it would refinance and extend the debt of its US business as the restructure of the company continued.

SMEs say access to credit is the biggest obstacle to growth and half suffered a 8pct interest rate hike on bank loans over the past 6 months.

Stocks to watch on the Australian Securities Exchange at close.

Copper miner OZ Minerals continues to seek acquisition opportunities and has already made non-binding offers for projects.

US-based Peabody Energy Corporation and Swiss mining giant Xstrata are understood to be eyeing emerging Australian coal miner Aston Resources.

The Minerals Council of Australia should have protested when the government stitched up a compromised tax deal with three sector giants, a mining club says.

Stocks to watch on the Australian Securities Exchange at noon.

The Australian stock market continued to head lower at noon, following a weak lead from Wall Street.

The Australian dollar was lower at noon as concerns on the US economy lowered investor sentiment for high-yielding assets.

Gold producer St Barbara has met annual guidance for 2010 and anticipates growth ahead.

Thiess Services says it has won a five-year contract to provide construction and maintenance services to Queensland's electricity provider, Ergon Energy.

House price growth strong, but slowing

The Australian debt market opened firmer as a sober outlook for the American economy from the US central bank lifted demand for fixed-income assets.

Stocks to watch on the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday.

The Australian dollar opened lower on Thursday as concerns about the recovery in the US economy weighed on financial markets.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after a huge unexpected jump in crude stockpiles in the United States added to nerves caused by fading consumer confidence.

The Australian stock market is likely to open weaker on Thursday after a fall on Wall Street overnight.

The US stock market edged lower on Wednesday on news that orders for big-ticket items sank in June.

Oil prices fell after a huge unexpected jump in crude stockpiles in the United States added to nerves caused by fading consumer confidence.

The dollar edged higher against most major currencies on Wednesday as US government reports pointed to a slowing economic recovery.

European share prices closed mixed on Wednesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares down 0.86 per cent at 5,319.68 points.

The US stock market edged lower on Wednesday on news that orders for big-ticket items sank in June.