WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is lower following falls on Wall Street and commodity prices overnight.
At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 96.24 US cents, down from 96.53 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open flat following falls on international markets overnight.
At 0645 AEDT on Thursday, the December share price index futures contract was up four points at 5,350.
ELSEWHERE:
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank has geared up for a year-long audit of the strength of big eurozone banks to withstand crisis, wielding new policing powers which hit bank shares hard.
BERLIN - Germany says its robust economy will fuel record employment this year and next, as well as boost consumer spending and industrial investment.
MADRID - Spain inched out of its two-year recession with timid growth in the third quarter, the country's central bank says, fuelling fragile hopes of a broader eurozone recovery.
LONDON - GlaxoSmithKline says its sales of drugs and vaccines in China have tumbled in the third quarter as it was hit by bribery investigations there.
AMSTERDAM - Dutch brewer Heineken NV has issued a profit warning, saying business was worse than expected in developing markets and the economic recovery in industrial nations was weak.
WASHINGTON - US aerospace and defence giant Boeing says third-quarter profits have soared 12 per cent from a year ago and it's raised its 2013 earnings outlook on a pick-up in commercial aircraft deliveries.
DALLAS - Higher taxes are reducing US Airways' profit, but the airline's results beat expectations.
MUMBAI - Indian carrier Jet Airways, in which Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is buying a stake, on Wednesday posted one of its worst ever quarterly results, hit by the economic slowdown, rising fuel costs and a depreciating rupee.
NEW YORK - Slumping industrial giant Caterpillar has reported a 44 per cent drop in profits and again slashed its 2013 full-year forecast due to weakness in the mining sector.
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