Stocks more than 1.5pc stronger and other top stories.

• Stocks more than 1.5pc stronger

  

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• Share losses and a weakening housing market are weighing on consumers' minds. Fairfax Media

  

  Share losses and a weakening housing market are weighing on consumers' minds. Fairfax Media Consumer sentiment flagged for the second month in row in April, according to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey, as share losses, a softening housing market and the stronger Australian dollar soured the mood.Westpac said on Wednesday that its headline index dropped 4 per cent, to 95.1, in April. Anything below 100 points means pessimists outn..

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• China trade beats forecasts in March

  

  Bennelong's favourite China-driven growth stocks China's "old economy" is roaring back to life, helped by an injection of credit and fiscal stimulus from the government that delivered a sharp rebound in the country's trade last month.Amid a pick-up in commodity prices, manufacturing activity and the housing market, China's imports and exports for March beat expectations by a wide margin.Exports rose at an annual pace of 18.7 per cent, when measured in yuan terms, compared to a d..

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• BHP, Rio: Iron-ore's next big threat looms in China's junkyards

  

  Video will begin in 5 seconds. BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie looks beyond iron ore The head of Australia's mining giant BHP Billiton says there's more volatility ahead for Chinese-driven commodities, and it's time to look beyond iron ore. PT0M45S 620 349 As China's booming middle class junks ageing cars and home appliances, the next threat to the world's ailing iron-ore producers is materialising.In a country that uses more steel than any other, it's now become about as profitable ..

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• Queensland Nickel: What next if Clive Palmer's company goes into liquidation?

  

  Queensland Nickel: What next if Clive Palmer's company goes into liquidation? Posted April 13, 2016 14:29:59 Now that its administrators have recommended liquidation, what happens next for Queensland Nickel, its workers and other creditors?ABC News Online answers the basic questions about what happens as a firm moves from administration into liquidation.What is the difference between administration, receivership and liquidation?If you imagine a troubled business being..

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• Businesses borrowing less

  

  Businesses borrowing less

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• Shanghai Pengxin in box seat for Kidman

  

  S.Kidman & Co's board met last week to consider bids for the agricultural company. Glenn Campbell GMC Shanghai Pengxin and partner Australian Rural Capital have been assigned preferred bidder status for Australia's largest private landholder, S.Kidman & Co. Street Talk understands Pengxin was given preferred bidder status following a Kidman & Co board meeting late last week. However sources said that the deal would still likely be determined b..

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• The age of record-low interest rates means Australia's economic transition may be built on sand

  

  There’s a fundamental problem with the way central bankers have been running monetary policy and it could mean Australia’s remarkable economy is a house built on sand. In consistently cutting rates to pull forward demand from the future, global central banks have sought to forestall economic weakness. As we are seeing in developed markets offshore, it is looking increasingly likely that policy may have hit the bounds of efficacy in many countries. Australia is no different than other nations..

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• Tourism, education won't save Australia, says Capital Economics

  

  For tourism to really have an impact on GDP here we would really need to see 35 per cent of the Chinese and Indian population with a passport. Simon O'Dwyer Here's some food for thought. Anyone thinking that education, tourism, financial services, health, agriculture and ageing services will fill the gap in the economy left by the resources sector, think again.It won't. Nothing like it. That's the message from Kate Hickie and Paul Dales at Cap..

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• Seven Network wins injunction freezing assets of senior manager accused of fraud

  

  Video will begin in 5 seconds. Seven senior manager admits fraud Seven Network wins injunction freezing assets of senior manager accused of fraud. PT0M27S 620 349 The Seven Network has confirmed it has taken urgent legal action against a senior employee who has admitted to defrauding the company by falsifying invoices.The broadcaster sought and won an injunction to freeze the assets of John Michael Fitzgerald in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.Mr Fitzgerald, 54, was the networ..

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Clive Palmer faces undignified exit from Parliament after administrators' damning report .	AFL: Sydney Swans star Lance Franklin leading the way in new-look ... .
Adelaide's push to be carbon neutral could kill business, councillor warns .	Telstra 'free data guy' to test drive 1Gbps modem despite admitting illegal downloads .