Finance news you need to know today

SURGING online sales and strong food sales helped retailer Walmart deliver its largest sales gain in more than eight years.

THE Australian share market looks set to open with a surge following solid Wall Street’s gains fuelled by better-than-expected company earnings and optimism that President Donald Trump’s tax cuts would proceed. At 0700 AEDT on Friday, the share price futures index was up 43 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 5,994.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has slipped against its US counterpart with the US dollar index lifting 0.1 per cent as risk appetite returns to markets. The local currency was trading at 75.89 US cents at 0700 AEDT on Friday, from 75.96 on Thursday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

FRANKFURT — Siemens plans to cut about 6900 jobs across its businesses supplying the power generation and oil and gas industries, which have been hit by the rapid growth of renewable energy.

OSLO — The Norwegian government plans to decide next year on whether to back a proposal from the country’s wealth fund to cut oil and gas companies from its benchmark index.

NEW YORK — A federal jury in Dallas has ordered Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics unit to pay $US247 million ($A346 million) to six patients who say they were injured by defective Pinnacle hip implants.

NEW YORK — Surging online sales and strong food sales helped retailer Walmart deliver its largest sales gain for established US stores in more than eight years.

NEW YORK CITY — Best Buy has reported disappointing third-quarter results and is forecasting holiday-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as it cut prices to match those offered by rivals including Amazon.com.

THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

LABOUR FORCE — The longest run of jobs growth in 23 years has taken the unemployment rate to 5.4 per cent, its lowest level since 2013.

CBA — Commonwealth Bank has dodged a second strike and board spill over executive pay.

NAB — National Australia Bank has fired several bankers and reprimanded dozens more after discovering about 2,300 mortgages may have been issued without proper documentation.

SANTOS — Shares in energy giant Santos have soared to a 15 month high after it confirmed it recently rejected a takeover offer from a major US investor worth almost $9.5 billion.

BHP — Mining giant BHP Billiton says China will continue to demand high-quality iron ore and new demand will emerge from immature economies such as India.

DOMAIN — Fairfax Media’s real estate spin-off Domain has begun trading on the Australian Stock Exchange with market value of more than $2 billion.

HARVEY NORMAN — The board of Harvey Norman has narrowly avoided a so-called ‘first strike’ from shareholders, with a large vote going against its executive pay package at the retailer’s annual general meeting.

NEWS CORP — Rupert Murdoch say News Corp is not looking to expand its newspaper empire, conceding digital advertising “has been tremendously damaging to print” and some of his papers were struggling.

WESFARMERS — Richard Goyder has wrapped up his 12 years as chief executive of Wesfarmers, describing the role as “demanding and relentless” as he hands control to Rob Scott.

MYOB — Business software group MYOB will buy rival Reckon’s accounting business for $180 million.