WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is higher, amid hopes that a bailout deal between Greece and its European partners will be reached.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 78.22 US cents, up from 77.97 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher following gains on Wall Street amid optimism that a bailout extension deal will be reached between Greece and its creditors.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the March share price index futures contract was up 21 points at 5,841.
ELSEWHERE:
ATHENS - Greece is considering requesting an extension to its current loan agreement with its European creditors, but without the onerous duties that come with a full-blown bailout, a government source says.
PARIS - France's government has forced a key package of economic reforms through parliament in a rare move that sparked a confidence motion which could in theory bring it down.
LONDON - Britain's annual inflation rate slowed to a record low of 0.3 percent in January on the back of plunging oil prices and lower food costs, official data showed Tuesday.
LONDON - Booming US shale output, which helped spark slumping oil prices, will continue over the next 20 years but start to slow, increasing demand for OPEC crude, BP forecasts.
AKRON, Ohio - The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co has reported a sharp jump in its fourth-quarter net income, thanks to a $US2 billion ($A2.56 billion) tax credit that offset unfavourable currency conditions and weak sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
PARIS - France's telecoms giant Orange has posted a nearly 50 per cent drop in 2014 earnings to 1.22 billion euros ($A1.78 billion) from a year earlier in a crowded market.
SINGAPORE - Singapore container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines says it is selling its logistics business to Japanese freight company Kintetsu World Express for $US1.2 billion ($A1.54 billion).
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