Finance news you need to know today

AFTER an embarrassing exodus of business leaders, US President Donald Trump has been forced to disband two of his key advisory groups

THE Australian share market looks set to open modestly higher, after Wall Street closed up despite its key indexes losing ground following President Donald Trump’s disbanding of two business councils in the wake of CEO defections. At 0700 AEST on Thursday, the share price futures index was up 12 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 5,758.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has pulled back a little early Thursday morning after soaring in the offshore session, but remains substantially higher. The local currency was trading at 79.25 US cents at 0700 AEST on Thursday — after trading at 79.30 at 0635 AEST — up from 78.38 on Wednesday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

WASHINGTON, DC — Federal Reserve policymakers appeared increasingly wary about recent weak inflation and some called for a halt to further interest rate hikes until it was clear the trend was transitory, according to the minutes of the central bank’s last policy meeting.

LOS ANGELES — After an embarrassing exodus of business leaders, US President Donald Trump has been forced to disband two of his key advisory groups, including the American Manufacturing Council headed by Australia’s Andrew Liveris.

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States has laid down a tough line for modernising the North American Free Trade Agreement, demanding major changes to the pact that would reduce US trade deficits with Mexico and Canada and increase US content for autos.

BERLIN — Ireland’s finance minister says the European Commission’s demand that Dublin collect up to 13 billion euros ($A17.5 billion) in back taxes from Apple is unjustified, in an interview with Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) newspaper.

COPENHAGEN — Denmark’s AP Moller Maersk has given an upbeat outlook for container shipping, lifting its shares by as much as 4.5 per cent as investors looked beyond one-off second-quarter charges and a costly cyber attack on its operations.

WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

FAIRFAX — Fairfax Media plans to list its lucrative real estate classifieds business, Domain, on the ASX by November, after the media group swung back into the black with a $83.9 million full-year profit.

SEVEN WEST — Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner has wrapped up a controversy-laden year with a pay cut as his TV network suffered a $744 million loss, courtesy of persistent weak ad revenues and a massive writedown on its broadcast licences.

SEVEN WEST HARRISON — A crowd-funding campaign has been set up with the aim of paying the legal bills of Amber Harrison, the former lover of Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner.

WOODSIDE — Woodside Petroleum has boosted its shareholder payout after stronger oil and gas prices and a steady reduction in costs contributed to a sharp lift in its half year profit.

CSL — Vaccines and blood products giant CSL is setting itself for a global upsurge in demand for “precious” plasma as it furthers a significant expansion of its plasma collection centres.

SEEK — Job ads portal SEEK has pushed its sales revenue past the $1 billion mark as investments in its Australian and New Zealand business start to deliver.

ORIGIN — Origin Energy has forecast earnings growth in the current financial year driven by its electricity and gas retail business.

AVEO — Retirement village operator Aveo Group says demand for its units have rebounded quickly after critical media reports about its fees and contracts hurt sales for a month.

WAGES — Wages growth remains at a record low 1.9 per cent, and with only a gradual improvement expected in the coming months economists are forecasting no moves in interest rates for some time.

STOCKLAND — Surging electricity prices will dampen earnings growth for Stockland Group this financial year, the property developer and shopping centre owner says.

HOME — More than one third of Australians who are either homeowners or aspire to buy in the future no longer believe it’s the best way to guarantee their financial future.

ILUKA — Iluka Resources has widened its first-half loss to $81.5 million, from a $20.9 million loss in the prior corresponding period, dragged down by a $165 million hit in impairment and redundancy costs.

WESTFIELD — Westfield Corporation, the owner of shopping centres in the US and UK, has met its half-year earnings forecasts but says retail conditions have been challenging.

SONIC — Laboratory and pathology group Sonic Healthcare expects underlying earnings to continue to grow in the year ahead as its Australian operations benefit from cost control.

SEALINK — Shares in Sealink Travel have sunk despite the ferry operator’s annual profit rising seven per cent to $24 million.

WESFARMERS — Coles is expected to have fallen further behind rival Woolworths when the supermarket’s parent Wesfarmers reports full-year results on Thursday.

POTASH — A slew of junior explorers are advancing plans to mine potash in Western Australia, hoping to ride a boom in food production that is expected to boost demand for the fertiliser.