WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has rallied above 93 US cents after a sharp sell-off in the greenback.
At 0720 AEST on Wednesday, the local currency was trading at 93.48 US cents, up from 92.94 cents on Tuesday.
And The Australian market is set to open lower after Wall Street dropped on concerns about the US tech sector and disappointing earnings from insurance giant AIG.
At 0700 AEST on Wednesday, the June share price index futures contract was DOWN 25 points at 5,447.
ELSEWHERE:
ROME - Energy ministers from the G7 group of leading world economies have agreed to help Ukraine after Russia threatened to halt gas supplies over unpaid bills in a move that could create havoc in Europe.
NEW YORK - Twitter's stock is down to an all-time low after a post-IPO lock-up period preventing employees and early investors from selling expired.
WASHINGTON - Jumps in exports of aircraft and automobiles and a fall in the oil import bill helped narrow the US trade deficit in March, Commerce Department data shows.
TEHRAN - Iran's oil minister has robustly defended the country's production capabilities, and says if sanctions are lifted foreign companies would mostly be confined to a supporting role.
LOS ANGELES - Disney has posted second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts, helped by the blockbuster success of movies like Frozen and Thor: The Dark World.
SAN FRANCISCO - China's Alibaba Group is aiming to raise $US1 billion in a long-awaited IPO likely to have ripple effects across the Internet.
FRANKFURT - German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer, maker of Aspirin painkiller, says it will acquire the consumer care business of Merck Co in the US for $US14.2 billion ($A15.36 billion).
PARIS - Forty-seven countries have signed up to automatically share bank data, including key financial centres Singapore and Switzerland, in what has been touted as a major step towards cracking down on global tax evasion.
PARIS - Setbacks for emerging markets and rising risks of fallout from the Ukraine crisis are holding back the global economic recovery, the OECD says.
NEW YORK - General Motors is recalling more than 56,000 Saturns for problematic gear shift cables, which it warned could break, preventing drivers from shifting gears.
NEW YORK - Italian auto giant Fiat Chrysler has announced that it will invest about $US7 billion ($A8 billion) through 2018 to relaunch the high-end and sporty Alfa Romeo line, with eight new models expected.
LONDON - Business leaders have met in Paris to fine-tune their policy recommendations for this year's G20 leaders summit in Australia.
OTTAWA - Canada posted a Can$79 million ($A78 million) trade surplus in March, a drop from the previous month as energy exports took a sudden dive, the government statistics agency says.
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