AAP

Oil prices have risen, hitting three-week highs, supported by strong US demand and comments from Saudi Arabia that it would continue to curb production in line with OPEC-led efforts.

Gold prices have risen as a softer US dollar helped the metal rebound from its biggest weekly loss this year, but moves were muted before the debut congressional testimony by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell later this week.

Australian shares have ended higher, with the benchmark index closing above 6,000 points for the first time since February 5, supported by solid company results and rising bank stocks.

Vocus chief executive Geoff Horth has left the company by mutual agreement with the board, a week after the telco posted a sharp fall in profit and cut its outlook.

The Australian share market has moved back above 6,000 points in morning trade, thanks to strong gains on Wall Street and a rise in global oil prices.

The Australian dollar is higher against its US counterpart despite the US dollar lifting amid expectations of a more aggressive US Federal Reserve.

Oil prices have risen to their highest in more than two weeks, supported by the shutdown of the El Feel oilfield in Libya and upbeat comments from Saudi Arabia that an OPEC-led effort to cut stockpiles is working.

Gold has eased, heading towards its biggest weekly decline in two-and-a-half months, as the US dollar climbed from last week's three-year low on the back of higher US Treasury yields.

Commonwealth Bank has denied liability in a shareholder class action alleging it breached continuous disclosure obligations with its handling of an Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre investigation into its compliance with money-laundering and terrorism-funding laws.

The Australian share market has made solid gains after a strong lineup of company earnings results briefly drove stocks above 6,000 points on Friday before closing just shy of the mark and up 1.6 per cent for the week.

Woolworths' first-half profit jumped 37.6 per cent to $969 million after comparable food sales at its Australian supermarkets rose 4.9 per cent.

The Australian share market has opened higher, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street and a steady flow of positive local earnings.

The Australian dollar is up almost half a cent against a weakened US counterpart.

Oil prices have risen to two-week highs, boosted by data showing a surprise draw in US crude inventories and also by a drop in the US dollar.

Gold has snapped four sessions of losses as the US dollar has surrendered early gains, though the metal remained lower for the week to date and analysts say they expect trading to be rangebound.

The Australian share market has posted a modest rise as big gains for Qantas, Crown Resorts and Nine Entertainment were partly offset by big ex-dividend retreats for AGL Energy and Woodside Petroleum.

A local landscaping company has suspended trading and operations due to financial viability problems a fortnight after one of the state's biggest builders, Cooper & Oxley, went into administration.

Strong ratings and a dominant share of the free-to-air TV revenue market have driven a 55 per cent increase in Nine Entertainment's half year underlying profit.

Qantas will return a further $378 million of capital to shareholders in the form of a buyback after the carrier lifted first-half profit 18 per cent to $607 million.

The Australian share market has opened higher, shrugging off Wall Street's turnaround from strong gains to finish firmly in the red.

The Australian dollar is little changed against its US counterpart which has again risen helped by buoyant short-term US Treasury yields.

The Australian share market looks set to open around half a per cent higher with Wall Street offering a positive lead despite some of its earlier strong gains ebbing closer to the close.

Oil prices are little changed ahead of data expected to show rising crude inventories in the United States and as the dollar has strengthened from last week's three-year lows.

Gold has dipped further, a day after its biggest daily slide in two-and-a-half months, but briefly bounced higher as the US dollar slipped for a short time after the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's January policy meeting.

The Australian share market inched higher as well received financial results from Wesfarmers and a2 Milk were countered by steep falls by heavyweight miners.

Downer EDI has posted an $11.1 million first-half loss, dragged down by a goodwill impairment on its mining operations, write-downs from its freight rail divestment and redundancy costs from its recently acquired Spotless.

Wages growth was stronger than expected in the final three months of 2017, but annual growth of 2.1 per cent is only slightly ahead of inflation.

Fortescue Metals' half-year profit has dropped 44 per cent as the miner offered wider discounts on its lower-grade product, but the result still came in ahead of market expectations.

Wesfarmers' first-half profit has plummeted 86 per cent to $212 million on the back of more than $1.3 billion in impairments against its UK hardware business and Target department stores.

Australian shares are marginally lower in early trade as investors take cues from a decline on Wall Street and local corporate earnings weigh on sentiment.

US crude has risen to a near two-week high on signs of inventory declines at a key storage hub, while Brent eased under pressure from a stronger dollar.

The Australian dollar is firmly back below 79 US cents.