WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is higher after the release of the US Federal Reserve's January policy meeting minutes.
At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 78.32 US cents, up from 78.23 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open flat after Wall Street fell following mixed US housing data, a lacklustre reading on inflation and indications the Federal Reserve is in no hurry to raise interest rates.
At 0645 AEDT on Thursday, the March share price index futures contract was one point at 5,876.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - US Federal Reserve policymakers appear reticent to make any quick move toward increasing interest rates, the minutes of the Fed's January meeting show.
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank has decided to extend and increase the amount of emergency liquidity available to Greek banks, a bank source says.
ATHENS - Greece's radical government has offered debt forgiveness to thousands of individuals and companies that owe the state money, hoping to secure a fraction of arrears.
WASHINGTON - US wholesale prices fell by a record amount in January, led by the biggest drop in petrol prices in six years.
WASHINGTON - US factory production edged up last month as manufacturers cranked out more computers, clothing, steel and other metals, offsetting declines in automobiles and aerospace.
WASHINGTON - US homebuilders slowed the pace of construction in January, breaking ground on fewer single-family houses ahead of the spring buying season.
LONDON - Britain's unemployment rate has descended to a new six-year low of 5.7 per cent while growth in wages outpaced inflation, official data shows, offering the government a lift before May elections.
MADRID - Spain's trade deficit swelled by more than half in 2014 as economic recovery spurred businesses to import and consumers to buy cars and appliances, the government says.
PARIS - France's PSA Peugeot Citroen says it slashed losses in 2014 and posted its first operational profit in three years, just months after an ownership change saved it from bankruptcy.
PARIS - Europe's leading hotel group, Accor of France, has posted a 2014 net profit of 223 million euros ($A325.4 million), a 77 per cent surge that nevertheless fell short of market expectations.
TOKYO - Sony's boss says he would keep splitting the vast business into self-operating units in a bid to drag it out of the red, while forecasting an ambitious $A5.37 billion operating profit in three years.
NEW YORK - Snapchat, the vanishing-image service, is seeking to raise venture capital in a deal that would value the startup at $US19 billion ($A24.3 billion), The New York times reports.
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