THE dollar was stronger at noon as traders bet local interest rates may be poised to rise next week.

AUSTRALIAN stocks moved slightly higher at midday, after a choppy morning’s trade influenced by a hesitant US market.

AUSTRALIAN total job vacancies in the three months to February fell 2.3 per cent, seasonally adjusted, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

VoIP company takes page from parent eBay, offering a business-rating directory and a service linking advice givers and seekers.

THE stock market opened lower this morning following the lead of a declining Wall Street overnight.

A GROWING number of big Australian businesses are failing to keep pace with international rivals because of the skills shortage and red tape.

THE dollar opened higher today following a night of mixed signals in the United States.

EUROPEAN stock markets slid overnight on surging crude oil prices and comments by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve.

US shares fell heavily overnight after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress the outlook for the depressed housing market was “uncertain”.

Yahoo will begin offering unlimited storage for its free Web-based e-mail in May, the company announced late on Tuesday in the US. The move makes Yahoo the first of the major free e-mail providers to offer unlimited storage, but it likely will not be the last.