WESTPAC

The Australian share market pared early losses to close around 0.2 per cent higher, as investors snapped up bank stocks and other cyclicals with attractive dividend yields.

The Australian share market closed higher for a sixth consecutive trading day with activity subdued after the Reserve Bank (RBA) left interest rates unchanged.

The Australian stock market closed higher on Friday on stronger international oil prices and as investors looked past overseas negatives to forthcoming economic data from the United States.

The United States is playing a key role in support of Japan's aid, search, and rescue efforts.

One Australian dollar can get you about 1.37 New Zealand dollars right now. That’s an extreme low level for the New Zealand dollar, according to data compared by Westpac Global Strategy Group.

New Zealand rescue teams worked under search lights early Wednesday to find scores of people trapped under collapsed buildings after an earthquake struck the country's second-biggest city of Christchurch, killing at least 65 people.

Shares in Australian banks and insurers fell between 1.4 and over 2.7 percent after a strong quake hit New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch on Tuesday for the second time in five months.

Australian gaming and wagering company Tatts Group Ltd is considering refinancing its A$700 million in bank debt with its existing lenders after tapping the U.S. private market in December, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

The dust of G-20 has settled. World leaders sat around a large table set this time in South Korea, searched for that magic wand in their suit pockets, and then looked at each other's face with disappointment. They didn't get one to 'calm down' the emerging fears of a 'world war' on trade and currencies. They did not 'direct' China and/or US as some hoped.

China's yuan bolted to a 21-month high on Monday, suggesting authorities are unshackling the currency from its de facto 23-month-old peg to the dollar after vowing greater flexibility at the weekend.

The Australian Dollar spent the majority of local trade yesterday above the 0.8600 cents mark as risk appetite returned to the market with high yielders the main benefactor.

The Australian Dollar spent the majority of local trade yesterday above the 0.8600 cents mark as risk appetite returned to the market with high yielders the main benefactor.

The Australian Dollar climbed almost 1 cent during the local session yesterday despite a weaker than expected reading from the NAB Business Confidence Survey.

The Australian Dollar opens lower (0.9260) this morning weighed down by little movement in global equity markets last night and further Greek Sovereign debit worries.

Shares in National Australia Bank, the country's top lender, have lagged peers by far in the past six months as investors fret its acquisition moves are distracting it from the core banking operations.

Asian stocks fell from near seven-week highs on Monday as a currency spat between China and the United States and worries about sovereign debt combined to keep investors away from riskier assets.

Yesterday's announcement of a steep decline in housing finance caught the market by surprise somewhat triggering a drop in the Aussie dollar to an intraday low of 0.9130.

Positive Australian economic data keeps on rolling in with yesterdays better than expected NAB Business Confidence and the ANZ Job advertisements surveys adding some support to the Aussie dollar.

The U.S. dollar rose, commodity prices dropped and stocks fell on Friday after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly lifted an emergency lending rate for the first time since the financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve raised its emergency lending rate for the first time since the financial crisis, lifting the dollar and hitting bonds as markets brushed off Fed assurances it was not a prelude to a rise in the main policy rate.

The Australian Dollar opens slightly lower today against its U.S. counterpart at 0.8755.