WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has failed to jump on the US equities rally bandwagon as risk appetite firms, dipping below the 72 US cent mark.
At 0700 AEST on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 71.97 US cents, down from 72.10 cents on Wednesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after another strong rally on Wall Street, thanks to higher oil prices and investors becoming more comfortable with the prospect of a June interest rate rise.
At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the share price index was up 33 points at 5,401.
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WELLINGTON - Dairy giant Fonterra is forecasting its payout to New Zealand farmers for the coming season will be $NZ4.25 ($A3.99) per kilogram of milk solids.
TORONTO - Canada's central bank says the Canadian economy will shrink and be much weaker than expected because of Alberta's devastating wildfires, which shut down its oil sands production.
WASHINGTON - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says it is under investigation by US regulators in connection with its accounting practices.
WASHINGTON - Citibank has been hit with $US425 million ($A591.76 million) in fines to settle federal civil charges of attempting to manipulate key benchmarks used to set interest rates for investments in derivatives and US Treasury bonds as well as a range of consumer loans.
LONDON - Oil giant Shell will slash a further 2200 jobs from its global workforce as it expects the oil price to remain "lower for longer".
NEW YORK - Microsoft is cutting 1850 jobs and will book a $US950 million ($A1.32 billion) writedown as the company continues its attempts to salvage a rocky entrance into the smartphone market.
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc is investigating how to charge electric cars, talking to charging station companies and hiring engineers with expertise in the area, according to people familiar with the matter and a review of LinkedIn profiles.
TOKYO - The health of the world economy will top the agenda at this year's meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialised nations, host nation Japan says.
