WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is virtually unchanged against the greenback, which has fallen on disappointing US employment data.
At 0630 AEST on Friday, the local unit was trading at 76.35 US cents, up from 76.34 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower after Wall Street fell slightly following a mixed US jobs report and as investors awaited Greece's weekend referendum over its economic fate.
At 0645 AEST on Friday, the September share price index futures contract was down 23 points at 5,520.
ELSEWHERE:
ATHENS - Greece's government and international creditors have raised the stakes over a weekend referendum seen as decisive for the nearly insolvent EU country's political and financial future.
WASHINGTON - Greece needs at least 50 billion more euros ($A72.30 billion), including 36 billion euros from EU lenders, to stabilise its finances even under existing creditor plans, the IMF says.
ATHENS - Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State, is to rule on the legality of the government's rushed bailout referendum set for this weekend, judicial sources say.
WASHINGTON - The US economy added a solid 223,000 net new jobs in June, the Labor Department says in a mixed report on the jobs market.
LONDON - British energy giant BP says it has agreed to pay a record $US18.7 billion ($A24.47 billion) to compensate the US government and five states for damages stemming from the deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - Officials in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have announced a $US18.7 billion ($A24.47 billion) settlement with BP that resolves years of litigation over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
MADRID - Spain's conservative government has raised its growth forecast for both this year and next, as official data showed registered unemployment fell for the fifth straight month in June.
LONDON - The BBC says it is cutting more than 1000 jobs as part of a long-term savings program, made more urgent by a shift to online viewing that threatens its funding.
MADRID - Spanish technology company Amadeus, the world's biggest processor of travel transactions, says it will buy airline technology firm Navitaire for $US830 million ($A1.09 billion) to boost its position in the low-cost segment.
NEW YORK - Macy's has become the latest company to sever ties with Donald Trump, and Costa Rica has decided to pull out of his Miss Universe competition following the mogul's controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants.
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