WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is back below 83 US cents as oil prices come under further pressure after OPEC cut its 2015 demand forecast.
At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the local currency was trading at 82.93 US cents, down from 83.20 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower following Wall Street's fall of more than one per cent amid an energy stock sell-off after OPEC cut its forecast on 2015 demand for oil.
At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the December share price index futures contract was down 45 points at 5,206.
ELSEWHERE:
NEW YORK - The price of oil has taken another dive, plunging to five-year lows amid mounting evidence that global supplies are far outstripping demand.
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations predicts that the global economy will grow by more than three per cent in 2015 and 2016, but that growth will be uneven in some regions.
MOSCOW - Russia has written off $US860 million ($A930.48 million) in debts owed by Uzbekistan as part of a deal to deepen economic ties between the former Soviet nations.
GENEVA - Travellers might soon be able to pay less to fly, IATA's chief says, after the global airline association predicted record profits for the sector due to plunging oil prices.
BRUSSELS - EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker vowed Wednesday to fight tax avoidance in Europe after new revelations showed Disney, Microsoft and Koch Industries got bumper tax deals from Luxembourg when he was prime minister.
LONDON - HSBC has dismissed its London-based European head of currency trading, a source close to the matter says, one month after the bank was fined for foreign exchange market rigging.
LONDON - British energy giant BP has announced a major restructuring of the company's operations faced with sliding revenues from plunging oil prices.
WASHINGTON - Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $US4 million ($A4.33 million) to settle federal charges of failing to prevent the unauthorised purchase of $US525 million in Apple stock by one of its customers.
PARIS - Airbus shares have plunged on the Paris stock exchange after Qatar Airways said it would postpone delivery of the first A350 jet "until further notice."
BEIJING - China will need more than 5300 new aircraft in the coming two decades as demand for domestic air travel mounts, Airbus has forecasted.
LONDON - The editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper says he will step down after 20 years in the role.
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