WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has recovered some of its losses it suffered on the back of disappointing unemployment data.
At 0630 AEST on Friday, the local currency was trading at 93.96 US cents, up from 93.69 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower after Wall Street closed lower despite recovering somewhat from a sharp opening fall sparked by a Portugal bank scare and general investor caution.
At 0645 AEST on Friday, the September share price index futures contract was down 17 points at 5,403.
ELSEWHERE:
LISBON - Fears over the health of Portugal's largest listed bank have sent its shares into freefall, shaking stock markets in Lisbon and across Europe and even the Atlantic.
WASHINGTON - New US claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell last week, fresh evidence of a modestly tightening jobs market, Labor Department data showed on Thursday.
PARIS - Industrial production slumped across Europe in May, sparking fears that the region's fragile economic recovery may have already peaked, analysts say.
ATHENS - Heavily-indebted Greece says it has managed to raise 1.5 billion euros ($A2.25 billion) in a three-year bond sale, its second issue after returning to bond markets with a five-year sale in April.
LONDON - The Bank of England has announced that policy makers have voted again to keep its key lending rate at a record-low 0.50 per cent, where it has stood since March 2009.
WASHINGTON - China's yuan is a growing force in global finance, more than doubling in use over the past year, according to a new study from the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
NEW DELHI - India's finance minister has introduced a double-digit hike in "sin tax" on cigarettes as the country seeks to reduce a massive death toll from tobacco use.
WASHINGTON - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Amazon for charging parents for what their children spent on online games without parental authorisation.
SAN FRANCISCO - Google is launching a fund devoted to nurturing promising tech startups in Europe.
PARIS - Aviation giant Boeing has raised its forecast for global aircraft demand, saying it expected 36,770 planes to be delivered over the next two decades in deals worth $US5.2 trillion ($A5.6 trillion).
GENEVA - Swiss food giant Nestle has announced it has bolstered its hand in the medical skin treatment market by finalising a deal with Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
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