WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar remains in sideways trade amid continuing uncertainty over the US political stalemate.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 94.37 US cents, slightly up from 94.33 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian market looks set to open lower following falls on international markets as the US budget standoff enters its eighth day with no end in sight, stoking worries of a catastrophic default.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the December share price index futures contract was down 31 points at 5,111.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund has lowered its growth forecast for the global economy and warned the outlook could get bleaker if the US political stand-off over finances drags on.
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the US economy, and warned that Washington's political paralysis could drag growth down further.
BEIJING - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its 2013 growth forecast for China to 7.6 per cent, in the latest acknowledgement of slower expansion in the world's second-biggest economy.
TOKYO - The International Monetary Fund has warned that fears over the global economy and a rapid slowdown in China are putting the brakes on Asian growth, as it called Japan the region's "main bright spot".
BRUSSELS - The International Monetary Fund has raised its eurozone growth forecast, but says the recovery remains tepid and that the bloc is only "crawling out of recession".
PARIS - The French trade deficit, a critical issue for the government, fell slightly in August and the trend has improved sharply, official data showed on Tuesday.
MILAN - Italy, struggling to straighten out its finances, cut overspending to 1.0 per cent of output in the second quarter, down from 2.2 per cent in the same period last year, official data shows.
WASHINGTON - Failure to raise the US debt ceiling would cause the US to default on its bills and would be "dramatically worse" than the current shutdown, President Barack Obama has warned.
CANBERRA - Australia's unemployment rate is due to rise in 2014 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgrades growth prospects for the nation.
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