Finance News Update, what you need to know
WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is almost one US cent lower after economic growth forecasts for Germany were cut.
At 0630 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 87.72 US cents, down from 88.68 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open sharply lower after heavy falls on Wall Street where oil and coal stocks led the tumble as the price of oil continued a multi-week decline.
At 0645 AEDT on Friday, the December share price index futures contract was down 52 points at 5,227.
ELSEWHERE:
PARIS - Bumper harvests and big stockpiles of food are helping to drive world food prices down to the lowest levels for about 15 years, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports.
WASHINGTON - New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits fell last week to their lowest level in more than eight years, the Labour Department says.
FRANKFURT - The economic skies above the eurozone have darkened again as data shows a sharp drop in exports from its two biggest economies, Germany and France.
BERLIN - Germany's leading economic institutes have slashed their forecasts for growth this year and next year and said the government needed to increase spending in order to boost growth.
LONDON - The Bank of England has voted to keep its main interest rate at a record-low level of 0.50 per cent, with Britain experiencing low inflation and steady economic recovery.
NEW YORK - British bank Barclays has agreed to pay $US20 million ($A21.64 million) to settle a class-action suit from investors who lost money in the LIBOR interest rate-rigging conspiracy, according to a US court filing.
PARIS - The US Apple and Google brands, which have become household names around the globe, are worth more than $US100 billion ($A108.2 billion) each, and top a ranking of the world's biggest brands, consultancy Interbrand said on Thursday.
KUALA LUMPUR - Three Malaysian banks have announced plans for a merger to create Southeast Asia's fourth-biggest commercial lender and a large Islamic bank.
STOCKHOLM - The world's largest toymaker Lego says it is ending a deal with oil giant Shell, bowing to pressure from a Greenpeace campaign linking Lego toys to Arctic oil spills.
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian palm-oil giant Sime Darby says it has made an offer to acquire Papua New Guinea's UK-listed New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) in a $US1.7 billion deal.
