AAP

The Australian share market reversed course to trade lower by noon, dragged down by banks and investors withdrawing to the sidelines ahead of the federal budget's release tonight.

A larger than expected trade surplus is likely to keep the central bank focused on a possible rise in the official interest rate over the next few months, economists say.

OneSteel has lowered its profit guidance for the second half of 2010/11 due to the higher Australian dollar, lower sales and margins, and bad weather.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has pledged that the budget will be back in the black in 2012/13, while focusing on job creation and providing opportunities for everyone from the mining boom.

The Australian share market has opened around half a per cent higher this morning.

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A revival in commodities prices pushed up US equity markets Monday as they shrugged off new turmoil in the eurozone after S&P's downgrade of Greece's sovereign debt.

The Australian dollar was trading around half a US cent higher today, pushed up by rising commodity prices.

BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser says he is worried about state-owned companies investing in Australia.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has promised "substantial savings" in tomorrow's federal budget, but financial markets doubt this will be enough to stop the Reserve Bank from raising interest rates in the next couple of months.

The Australian share market finished flat as investors backed off ahead of the release of the federal budget tomorrow.

Interest rates could be on their way up as early as June if official data due on Thursday confirms a further tightening in the labour market, economists say.

Shares in Spotless Group have jumped 14 per cent after the group received a $657 million takeover offer from a private equity firm.

Shares in Caltex Australia rose after the oil refiner and marketer flagged a lift in first half production.

Qantas engineers will stop work for an hour on Friday following a breakdown in wage negotiations with the airline.

BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser says the shift of economic weight and global rebalancing to Asia is the most significant event since the industrial revolution.

Business conditions worsened in April, hit by the rising Australian dollar and by an anticipated interest rate rise by the central bank, a survey shows.

Dentistry clinics, primary health care training facilities, renal dialysis chairs and patient accommodation are among the projects being funded by the federal budget for regional Western Australia.

The number of jobs advertised online and in newspapers has risen for the 12th month in a row, but recent trends suggest Australia's running as a two-speed economy, a survey shows.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has promised substantial savings in Tuesday's federal budget, countering accusations from the opposition that the government has lost control of the purse strings.

The Australian share market has opened higher as sentiment benefited from better than expected jobs data out of the United States.

The Australian dollar was trading higher today, after better than expected US employment data boosted risk sentiment on Friday.

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The biggest corporate hiring spree in five years ended a weeklong slide in the US stock market on Friday.

Leonora has put its hand up to house more asylum seekers as the government seeks to ease overcrowding at its Christmas Island detention centre.

The federal government is adamant returning the budget to surplus is not reliant on continued growth in China, as it prepares to introduce its mining tax next year.

Takeover target Equinox Minerals has posted a first quarter loss of $21.4 million due mainly to costs associated with the copper miner's withdrawal of its own takeover bid, for a Canadian company.

Business leaders want next week's federal budget to deliver increased productivity, by addressing shortages in skilled labour and infrastructure, to rectify the country's increasing economic disparity.

Australian shares closed marginally weaker despite recovering from earlier lows caused by steep falls overnight in commodity prices.

The silver price has overshot the metal's fundamentals and a correction is due, an analyst says.

West Australian shadow attorney-general John Quigley says the government is lucky it's been able to plead guilty to such a minor charge in relation to the death in custody of an Aboriginal elder.

Travelling photographers are scamming thousands of dollars from indigenous families in Western Australia's Kimberley region, a consumer agency says.