WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is lower following weak unemployment figures and strong US data showing growth in the world's largest economy accelerated in the third quarter.
At 0630 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 94.53 US cents, down from 94.83 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower following falls on Wall Street where Twitter made its market debut.
At 0645 AEDT on Friday, the December share price index futures contract was down 22 points at 5,407.
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ELSEWHERE:
NEW YORK - Twitter has hit Wall Street with a bang, as an investor frenzy quickly sent shares surging after the public share offering for the fast-growing social network.
WASHINGTON - The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in the third quarter, the government says in a report that reveals weakness in vital consumer spending.
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank has cut its key interest rates to all-time lows in a largely unexpected move in the face of deflationary pressures in the eurozone.
LONDON - The Bank of England has held its key lending rate at a record-low point of 0.50 per cent and froze its cash stimulus level, as Britain's economic recovery gathers pace.
WASHINGTON - The number of people seeking US unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000 last week, bringing applications to pre-recession levels.
WASHINGTON - The CIA is paying telecommunications giant AT&T more than $US10 million ($A10.5 million) per year for access to its database of phone records, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK - Goldman Sachs says its currency trading is being probed by regulators, joining a list of large financial institutions that have disclosed foreign exchange investigations in recent days.
MOSCOW - Russia's economy ministry has issued a dire forecast of 16 years of negligible growth and global underperformance because of the Kremlin's failure to pursue reforms when oil prices were high.
NICOSIA - Cyprus says international lenders are demanding no additional austerity measures after completing their second review of its compliance with the punishing terms of a massive debt bailout.
DUBLIN - Ireland will become next month the first eurozone country to exit a bailout program after the EU and IMF completed their final review.
