WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has held on to most of the gains made after weak Chinese economic data raised hopes of further stimulus measures from Beijing.
At 0700 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 69.07 US cents, down from 69.11 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower after falls on Wall Street which shed early gains, and oil prices again fell.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the share price index was down 53 points at 4,795.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - The US budget deficit will grow sharply to $US544 billion ($A793 billion) in 2016 after six years of declines, the Congressional Budget Office says.
LONDON - The Bank of England governor says there's no reason to raise interest rates - particularly given a collapse in oil prices and volatility in China.
PARIS - Unseasonably warm weather and rising supply will keep the crude oil market oversupplied until at least late 2016, the International Energy Agency says in its monthly report.
DUBLIN - Government statisticians say Ireland's national debt has fallen below the symbolically important threshold of 100 per cent of GDP for the first time since the country took an international bailout five years ago.
NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey - Johnson & Johnson expects to cut about 3,000 jobs over the next two years as the healthcare conglomerate works to restructure its medical devices business.
NEW YORK - Bank of America has reported higher profits on better performance in consumer banking and lower costs, but also acknowledges that it is struggling to increase revenue despite an improving US economy.
NEW YORK - Tiffany has reported a worldwide decline in jewellery sales during the Christmas period as consumer spending remained tepid in an uncertain global economy.
FRANKFURT - Twitter says its social network is suffering ongoing outages on computers and phones and it is working to resolve issues that have been widely reported across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America.
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