Finance news you need to know today

AUSTRALIA’S plain packaging tobacco law has been upheld at the World Trade Organization after a five-year legal battle.

HERE are 10 things making news in business and finance today.

1. SYDNEY — The Australian market looks set to open lower despite gains on most major international markets, ahead of the Reserve Bank’s statement on monetary policy later in the day. At 0700 AEST on Friday, the share price futures index was down eight points, or 0.14 per cent, at 5,856.

2. SYDNEY — Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is slightly higher against its US counterpart, which traders sold off overnight ahead of key US jobs figures that are expected to come in strong. The local currency was trading at 74.09 US cents at 0700 AEST on Friday, from 74.03 on Thursday.

3. WASHINGTON — The US Senate has given final legislative approval to a $US1.2 trillion ($A1.6 trillion) spending bill to keep the government open through September, a measure President Donald Trump is expected to sign before Friday’s deadline.

4. GENEVA — The United States will shoot itself in the foot if it quits the Paris climate accord because China, India and Europe will snap up the best power sector jobs in future, UN Environment chief Erik Solheim says.

5. GENEVA — The landmark Australian law on restrictive tobacco packaging, better known as plain packaging, has been upheld at the World Trade Organization after a five-year legal battle, Bloomberg news reports citing two people familiar with the situation.

6. WASHINGTON — New applications for US jobless benefits fell sharply last week and the number of Americans on unemployment rolls hit a 17-year low, pointing to a tightening labour market that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

7. WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation to tighten sanctions on North Korea by targeting its shipping industry and companies that do business with the reclusive state.

8. BRUSSELS — Britain’s looming negotiations with the European Union on exiting the bloc are already very tough and will become “impossible” if emotions are allowed to run unchecked, the chairman of EU summits says.

9. MILAN — The landmark Australian law on restrictive tobacco packaging, better known as plain packaging, has been upheld at the World Trade Organization after a five-year legal battle, Bloomberg news reports citing two people familiar with the situation.

10. NEW YORK — Viacom Inc, the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, has reported second-quarter profit that beat estimates, but worry that it will lose revenue from a big cable distributor weighed on its stock.