WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has climbed higher following some soft US data that has weighed on the greenback.
At 0630 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 72.45 US cents, up from 72.02 cents on Tuesday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after a mixed performance on Wall Street amid cautious trading as nervous investors sought low-risk assets after Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border.
At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the December share price index futures contract was up 14 points at 5,244.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - The US economy expanded more than expected in the third quarter but growth remained well below the pace of the second quarter, according to Commerce Department data.
BERLIN - German business confidence bounced back in November from the decline Europe's top economy had the previous month over the Volkswagen scandal, a leading economic think tank says.
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the government needs to raise the minimum wage by an annualised 3 per cent to bolster consumer spending.
MOSCOW - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak says Moscow would cut gas supplies to Ukraine on Tuesday or Wednesday because Kiev had not paid up front for more gas and might also halt coal supplies to Ukraine in retaliation for a power blackout of Crimea.
AMSTERDAM - Container workers at the Port of Rotterdam have voted to hold a series of 24-hour strikes in December and January in protest at possible job cuts, threatening to freeze the movement of goods through Europe's largest port.
NEW YORK - Tiffany's fiscal third-quarter results have missed analysts' estimates, hampered by a strong US dollar and uncertain economic conditions. The luxury jeweller also has lowered its full-year earnings guidance.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says his space transportation company, Blue Origin, plans about two more years of test flights before it will offer rides to passengers.
