Five small and mid-cap miners including Papillon Resources, Coalspur and Condoto Platinum have raised a total of $39 million in new capital to support operations that stretch from West Africa to Canada.
Westpac boss Gail Kelly became the latest bank executive to try to soften up the public to the prospect of banks not passing on the central bank's expected interest rate cuts next week.
The Australian dollar eased back below 107 US cents after trading within a tight range as the market awaited key jobs data from the US.
At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at 106.88 US cents, down from 107.16 cents.
The Australian dollar is slightly lower, backing away from the three-month high reached yesterday.
At 0700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at 107.09 US cents, down from 107.17 cents yesterday afternoon.
US stocks have ended the session mixed after weekly jobless claims fell, but Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke told congress the jobs market had a long road to recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday shed 11.05 points (0.09 per cent) to finish at 12,705.41.
Corporate finance deals launched or completed in Western Australia during 2011 were worth a whopping $59.8 billion, a survey by WA Business News has found.
A renewed appetite for more riskier currencies, sparked by encouraging manufacturing data in Germany, the US and China, took the Australian dollar to a fresh three-month high.
The rally led the local upwards by one US cent to its best close since early November, traders say.
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