WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has bounced half a US cent on strong economic data from China.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 91.55 US cents, up from 91.03 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower following slides on international markets after a US Federal Reserve official said there could be a small cut in its stimulus program next week.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the December share price index futures contract was down 41 points at 5,106.
ELSEWHERE:
BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers have edged towards a difficult compromise on a Banking Union they hope will prevent a repeat of crippling crises and inject new impetus into the economy.
WASHINGTON - New US regulations place tight controls on banks trading their own accounts, in an attempt to avoid the high-risk behaviour that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.
MILAN - The troubled Italian economy, the third-biggest in the eurozone, stagnated in the third quarter, ending two years of contraction, revised data shows.
LONDON - Britain's trade deficit for goods with the rest of the world dropped in October but reached a record high with the European Union, official data shows.
LISBON - Portugal should return to growth next year, following more than two years of recession, with the recovery pulled by exports, the Bank of Portugal says.
MOSCOW - The International Monetary Fund has slashed Russia's 2014 growth forecast while warning that faster expansion would be hard to achieve without a change in the energy-rich country's economic model.
PARIS - European aerospace giant EADS vows to limit redundancies in a program of sweeping job cuts it insists is essential for its survival.
MADRID - Spanish banking giant Santander says it is expanding its presence in China by buying a stake in the major Chinese lender Bank of Shanghai.
NEW YORK - General Motors says company veteran Mary Barra will succeed Dan Akerson as chief executive, becoming the first woman to lead the largest US car maker.
