WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is higher, as the US dollar falls against most currencies on the realisation that the government shutdown in Washington may not be short lived.
At 0630 AEST on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 93.90 US cents, up from 93.52 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher despite falls on Wall Street as the reality of the US government shutdown depressed markets along with fears of a American debt default.
At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the September share price index futures contract was up 14 points at 5,226.
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ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has called Republican and Democratic leaders to a White House meeting as the government shutdown went deep into a second day.
WASHINGTON - Private payrolls data shows slow job creation for September, supporting concerns that US growth lagged in the third quarter.
PARIS - The European Central Bank has held its key rates at all-time lows and promised to do everything possible to prevent tightening market conditions from choking off recovery.
NEW YORK - The New York Attorney General has announced a lawsuit against Wells Fargo and an agreement with Bank of America relating to a 2012 national settlement on mortgage-lending abuses.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France - Irish airline Ryanair has been ordered to pay nearly nine million euros ($A13 million) in damages and interest after being found guilty of breaching French labour law.
NEW YORK - The Reuters news agency is cutting some five per cent of its editorial staff, the latest layoffs in the troubled media industry.
NEW YORK - New York City's iconic Empire State Building has gone public as part of a real estate trust traded for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange.
MOSCOW - The world's top diamond producer Alrosa says it will float 16 per cent of its state and management-held shares as part of Russia's teetering privatisation drive.
SYDNEY - Building giant Leighton Holdings has found itself at the centre of a corruption scandal, with reports that bribery was rife among top executives.
