WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is almost half a US cent higher, as European and Wall Street stocks gain ground on the back of another round of strong company earning reports.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 88.60 US cents, up from 88.13 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after strong performances on Wall Street as US company quarterly results began flowing in and investors awaited a key meeting of the Federal Reserve.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - New orders for US manufactured durable goods dropped in September on a decline in volatile transportation orders, government data shows.
WASHINGTON - US consumer confidence rebounded in October after the prior month's slump, a cheery sign for the upcoming holiday shopping season, the Conference Board says.
NEW YORK - The Dow has jumped back above 17,000 following a strong report on US consumer confidence and another round of mostly solid corporate earnings.
STOCKHOLM - The Swedish central bank has cut its key interest rate to 0 per cent, saying the economy is "relatively strong" but that inflation is too low.
PARIS - A French court has ruled that Irish budget airline Ryanair must pay 8.1 million euros ($A12.15 million) in damages along with 200,000 euros in fines for breaching French labour law.
NEW YORK - US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has reported slightly higher quarterly earnings as stronger sales in vaccines and other products offset the negative hit from patent expirations on other medications.
DOVER, Delaware - The DuPont Co says strong performance in its nutrition and health unit and lower raw material costs contributed to an increase in third-quarter earnings.
NEW YORK - The online review website Yelp says it's acquired France-based rival Cityvox in its latest overseas expansion.
NEW DELHI - Japanese technology giant SoftBank said it hopes to replicate its success with China's Alibaba through its $US627 million ($A678.39 million) investment in leading Indian online marketplace Snapdeal.
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