WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is at a three-and-a-half month low following strong US retail sales data and after Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens said he thought the dollar's natural level was around 85 US cents.
At 0630 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 89.43 US cents - its lowest level since August 30 - down from 90.31 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks to open lower after falls on international bourses amid growing speculation the Federal Reserve may start cutting its stimulus program this month.
At 0700 AEDT on Friday, the December share price index futures contract was down 10 points at 5,047.
ELSEWHERE:
BRUSSELS - Eurozone industrial output fell sharply in October, stoking concerns a fragile recovery from a record recession could be stalling, official data shows.
WASHINGTON - US consumers ramped up spending in November on cars, appliances and furniture and made more purchases online, signalling growing confidence in the economy during the holiday shopping season.
WASHINGTON - The number of people seeking US unemployment benefits rose 68,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 368,000, the largest increase in more than a year.
NEW DELHI - India's industrial output shrank by a surprise 1.8 per cent in October and retail inflation accelerated to a nine-month high, data showed Thursday, dealing a double blow to recovery hopes for Asia's third-largest economy.
NEW YORK - General Motors says it is selling its entire stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen, but stressed its manufacturing alliance with the struggling French carmaker remains strong.
HELSINKI - A consortium including Canadian and Australian funds has paid $US3.51 billion ($A3.89 billion) for the Finnish electricity distribution business of Fortum, the Finnish company said on Thursday.
MONTREAL - Canadian planemaker Bombardier says it had received a firm order for 30 of its CRJ900 NextGen regional jets from American Airlines, a deal worth $US1.42 billion ($A1.5 billion).
SAN FRANCISCO - Industry tracker eMarketer forecasts that YouTube will rake in about $US5.6 billion ($A6.21 billion) from ads this year, pocketing nearly two billion of those dollars as profit.
