WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has given back some of the gains made following a strong jobs report after commodity prices sank.
At 0630 AEDT on Friday, the currency was trading at 71.25 US cents, down from 71.39 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open sharply lower after Wall Street dropped following falls in commodity prices and a Federal Reserve policymaker's hint of a December interest-rate rise.
At 0645 AEDT on Friday, the December share price index futures contract was down 56 points at 5,076.
ELSEWHERE:
GENEVA - A massive trade pact between 12 Pacific rim countries could limit the availability of affordable medicines, the head of the World Health Organisation says, joining a heated debate on the impact of the deal.
WASHINGTON - New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits held steady last week, close to a four-decade low as the jobs market firms, the Labor Department reports.
MOSCOW - Russia's economy shrank 4.1 per cent in the third quarter this year, official statistics show, as a recession caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine continued to take its toll.
MARIANA, Brazil - President Dilma Rousseff has flown over a devastated part of Brazil's southeast region where two dams burst at an iron ore mine last week, killing at least seven people and swamping a vast area with mud and mine waste.
LONDON - British brewer SABMiller, fresh from agreeing to a vast $US121-billion takeover from global leader Anheuser-Busch InBev, has posted sliding first-half net profits on the back of the strong dollar.
MADRID - Spanish oil giant Repsol said Thursday it swung into the red in the third quarter due to lower oil prices and one-off provisions caused by its decline in North America.
LONDON - English soccer club Manchester United has posted a 39 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue due to its participation in the lucrative Champions League tournament this season which boosted broadcast and matchday income.
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