WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar remains well above 93.5 US cents after better than expected employment figures fuelled hopes of a sustained jobs market recovery.
At 0700 AEST on Friday, the local currency was trading at 93.76 US cents, down from 93.84 cents on Thursday.
The Australian market looks set for a flat start to trade, after a mixed session on Wall Street.
At 0700 AEST on Friday, the June share price index futures contract was up just one point at 5,460.
ELSEWHERE:
SYDNEY - Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has suffered an 85 per cent fall in quarterly profit to $US48 million ($A51.93 million).
BRUSSELS - European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has given the strongest hint possible of an imminent cut in eurozone interest rates next month.
LONDON - The Bank of England has voted to keep its main interest rate at a record-low 0.50 per cent.
MOSCOW - Russia has ordered crisis-hit Ukraine to pay upfront for all its future natural gas deliveries because of billions of dollars in outstanding debts.
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the Fed's bond holdings will likely remain at high levels for up to eight years after it starts raising short-term interest rates.
LISBON - There will be no turning back for Portugal when it makes a clean exit from its bailout this month without a credit safety net, the president of the Eurogroup has warned.
OAK BROOK - McDonald's says a key sales metric was flat in April in the US, as the world's largest hamburger chain worked to fend off competitors and improve service in its restaurants.
WASHINGTON - Google, Facebook, Amazon and other online giants warn that the internet faces a "grave threat" if service providers are able to prioritise or restrict usage based on negotiated payments.
NEW YORK - CBS's first-quarter net income rose six per cent despite an advertising downturn that the television network blamed on the loss of some sports programming.
NEW YORK - Snapchat has agreed to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it deceived customers about the disappearing nature of messages sent through its service and collected users' contacts without telling them or asking permission.
NEW YORK - US beverage giant Coca-Cola will close two fruit-juice factories in Russia in the coming months because of falling demand, a company spokesman has told AFP.
GENEVA - Mining and commodities giant Glencore Xstrata says it has made former BP chief Tony Hayward's interim stint as company chairman permanent.
NICOSIA - Cyprus is planning to issue a first-ever licence for a casino resort in the government-held south of the Mediterranean island by next spring.
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