WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has charged higher despite traders turning cautious a day before the Brexit referendum.
At 0700 AEST on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 75.00 US cents, up from 74.86 cents on Wednesday.
The Australian share market looks set to open lower, after US stocks dipped, with traders focusing on Thursday's referendum on whether Britain will remain part of the European Union.
At 0650 AEST on Thursday, the share price index was down 15 points at 5,202.
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WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its forecast for the US economy this year and says America should raise the minimum wage to help the poor and offer paid maternity leave to encourage more women to work.
LONDON - Britons have flocked to swap their pounds for euros and US dollars in the days running up to the European Union referendum, high street foreign exchange companies say.
LONDON - Azimo is the latest major money transfer company to suspend operations for Britain's referendum on EU membership, saying the uncertainty around the vote made it impossible to guarantee the safety of customers' money.
WASHINGTON - Americans snapped up houses in May almost as soon as properties were listed, fuelling the strongest sales rate in nearly a decade.
HANOVER - Volkswagen's top shareholders have closed ranks behind management, defying a torrent of criticism from smaller investors about the German carmaker's emissions test cheating and its response to the scandal.
MUNICH - Global industrial robot sales growth has slowed to 12 per cent in 2015 weighed by a sharp fall in top buyer China, data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday.
