Australian shares are trading lower through the afternoon despite Sigma Healthcare stocks soaring after returning from a trading halt.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 55.7 points, or 1 per cent, to 5605.9.

When British Prime Minister Theresa May's office confirmed on Thursday afternoon (local time) that parliament wouldn't be voting on her Brexit deal this side of New Year's Eve, the nation breathed a sigh of relief.

At last – perhaps a break from the frenzied plotting and posturing at Westminster seen at the start of the week, after May's shock decision to pull out of a scheduled parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal. And relief from the blood-soaked knives and dripping vitriol of the failed Conservative Party coup against her in the middle of the week.

Now Britons can relax to the soothing sight of May robotically reciting the talking points about her deal "delivering the Brexit people voted for". And they can gratefully tune out of the dull news items about her footslogging around Europe looking for friends and favours to help get that deal past the unwilling, kaleidoscopic parliament that people also voted for.

Hans van Leeuwen has the full story here.

On Friday, the Supreme Court said the government, through the Barangaroo Development Authority, had failed to honour its agreement to discuss "sight lines" clauses with Lendlease and Crown as it considered bids for Barangaroo Central, the adjoining mixed-use development to their towers.

"This was because the authority had considered various bids to develop Central Barangaroo without first discussing and negotiating with Crown and Lendlease ways to retain to retain the sight lines that the Crown and Lendlease buildings would otherwise enjoy to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House," Judge McDougall said.

Su-Lin Tan has the full story here.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is reviewing a proposal to raise the level of capital it requires bank owners to contribute to their business.

The Reserve Bank has been reviewing bank capital rules for almost two years now.

The nation's most powerful financial regulators worry some banks are being "overly cautious" in their lending decisions, after the royal commission ramped up pressure on banks to scrutinise new customers more closely.

Amid growing financial market concerns about the potential economic harm caused by tighter credit conditions, regulators also reaffirmed the importance of banks continuing to lend money as they change their processes in response to the royal commission into misconduct in finance.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) has made a fresh push for a merger with the struggling Sigma Healthcare, revealing it had made a $700 million offer to Sigma's board in October.

On Friday, API also announced it had acquired a 13 per cent stake in the rival pharmaceutical wholesaler, and reconfirmed the terms of the non-binding indicative proposal made in October, which offers Sigma investors 0.31 API shares and 23¢ cash for each Sigma share they own.

API said the value of the proposal equates to 68.6¢ a Sigma share, which represents a 69 per cent premium to the target's closing share price on Thursday of 40.5¢.

Colin Kruger has the full story here.

Australian shares have extended their losses through the morning and are trading much lower at midday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 37.2 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5624.4.

Gas-starved eastern states have received a double boost with the opening of a new pipeline to the Northern Territory and the announcement a fresh field will be developed off the Victorian coast.

Pipeline company Jemena will on Friday open a new link to Northern Territory gas fields, sending new gas into the east coast, while ExxonMobil and BHP have pushed forward on a Bass Strait project that will bring more supply into Victoria by 2021.

The Reserve Bank says the next move in interest rates is up. Yet investors are starting to embrace the idea that policy makers will be forced to cut.

That leaves the Australian dollar vulnerable, with predictions it could fall as low as 65 US cents.

This year has had it all for blood products giant CSL and its chief executive Paul Perreault: a record profit, double-digit sales growth in core therapies for immunodeficiency and haemophilia patients, successful new products and a maiden profit from CSL's big influenza vaccines bet.

Mr Perreault shared the five keys to CSL's continued outperformance with The Australian Financial Review before heading back to the US for Christmas with family and some skiing at the renowned Park City, Utah, resort.