WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has extended its negative response to Tuesday's Reserve Bank policy meeting and interest rate decision as global oil and equities slide.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 70.47 US cents, down from 70.70 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open sharply lower after stocks around the world fell as a further oil price rout heightened concern over global growth.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the share price index was down 73 points at 4,869.
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ELSEWHERE:
BRUSSELS - European Council President Donald Tusk has set out a plan for keeping Britain in the European Union to a mixed reception which underlined the challenges Prime Minister David Cameron faces convincing Britons they should stay in the bloc.
DUBLIN - Ireland's unemployment rate has fallen to a seven-year low of 8.6 per cent as the country - buoyant again after years of gloom and austerity - prepares for a general election.
DALLAS - The big plunge in oil prices is taking Big Oil's profits down.
LONDON - BP's fourth-quarter earnings plunged 91 per cent amid sharp declines in oil prices as the British energy company continued to make provision for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and streamline operations.
FRANKFURT - Swiss bank UBS has watched its shares slide on news that investors are pulling money out of its division serving wealthy clients - a token of the market turbulence that has shaken the world in the past few months.
NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc has reported fourth-quarter net income of $US613 million ($A863 million).
LONDON - Michael Kors Holdings Ltd has reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $US294.6 million ($A414.93 million).
LONDON - British online grocer Ocado is confident it will sign multiple overseas technology deals, despite missing out on its target of securing a first one in 2015.
