WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has fallen as oil prices ease.
At 0700 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 71.52 US cents, down from 71.60 cents on Thursday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower following falls on Wall Street after oil prices contracted.
At 0645 AEDT on Friday, the share price futures index was down four points at 4,9,52.
ELSEWHERE:
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia is "not prepared" to cut oil production, Agence France-Presse has reported, quoting the Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir.
DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates has thrown its support behind a plan involving oil powerhouses Russia and Saudi Arabia to freeze oil production levels in an attempt to halt the slide in crude prices.
WASHINGTON - The World Bank says it is making $US150 million ($A209.25 million) in financing immediately available to help combat the Zika virus outbreak in affected Latin American and Caribbean countries.
WASHINGTON - The number of people seeking unemployment aid fell last week to the lowest level since November, evidence that stock market turmoil and slow growth overseas haven't caused US businesses to cut jobs.
PARIS - A leading global policy organisation says world economic growth is likely to level out this year and next.
FRANKFURT - Top officials from the European Central Bank have expressed concern at their last meeting about turbulent financial markets and the increasingly dim outlook for China and other emerging economies.
LONDON - Iran's Bank Mellat will pursue damages against Britain after the European Union's top court effectively ruled that the bank's assets should not have been frozen from 2010.
NEW YORK - Walmart has reported an 8-per-cent decline in fourth-quarter earnings as the retailer prunes its global footprint.
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