Finance news you need to know today

RAPPER and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been named the world’s highest-paid entertainer, ousting pop singer Taylor Swift.

Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

THE Australian market looks set to open lower following Wall Street’s lead where Apple shares have fallen, adding to the tech stocks slide of last week. At 0700 AEST on Tuesday, the share price futures index was down 15 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,675.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is fractionally higher against its US counterpart, treading water ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and interest rate decision.

The local currency was trading at 75.41 US cents at 0700 AEST on Tuesday, from 75.39 on Monday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

EDINBURGH — The number of European Union nurses registering to work in Britain has dropped by 96 per cent since July last year, the country’s Health Foundation said on Monday, in what it described as a wake-up call to politicians.

BOLOGNA — The United States has refused to sign onto a G7 pledge that calls the Paris climate accord the “irreversible” global tool to address climate change.

DUBAI — Qatar can easily defend its economy and currency against sanctions by other Arab states, Qatari finance minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi says.

NEW YORK — The next Lyft car you book may soon be a Jaguar or a Land Rover.

LOS ANGELES — Rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been named the world’s highest-paid entertainer, ousting pop singer Taylor Swift who fell to 49th place on the Forbes annual list.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

SHOPPERS — Shoppers who got addicted to sales and deals during the Great Recession now have more tools to crosscheck prices and are finding a surplus of goods online. That’s creating a race to the bottom among retailers — particularly for clothes.

POUND — The pound fell sharply after Britain’s election saw the Conservatives lose their majority in parliament, raising questions about the next government’s ability to lead the talks to leave the European Union. The pound lost as much as 3 cents against the dollar, to $1.2636, by Friday as the results confirmed that the Conservative party, which got the most votes, failed in its gambit to gain a stronger majority.

BREXIT — EU states are getting impatient about the delays in the Brexit talks, with some warning Friday after Britain’s election that the country should not be given more than the allotted two years to settle its divorce. It is nearly a year since Britain voted to leave the bloc and divorce talks have yet to start.

ENERGY — As energy ministers from around the world gathered in Beijing to report increased spending to help counter climate change, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has delivered a starkly countervailing message. India, France, Norway, Canada, Australia and Japan said they were on track to double their clean energy research spending. Perry says in the U.S., the private sector will have to do more as President Donald Trump promotes fossil fuels and proposes to roll back clean energy spending.

SUVS — The traditional station wagon has been under siege for years by endless waves of crossover SUVs, but a renaissance is underway. For 2018, new wagons from Buick and Volvo join existing models from BMW, Subaru, Volkswagen and others, giving SUV sceptics plenty of family-friendly alternatives.

HONDA — Honda says its Accord midsize car will be offered only with four- cylinder or gas-electric hybrid engines when an all-new version comes out later this year. The company says the smaller engines are sufficient for what its customers want.

SOFTBANK — Japanese internet, solar and technology company SoftBank Group Corp. is buying robotics pioneer Boston Dynamics from Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent. Terms of the deal, announced Friday, including when it might close, were not disclosed. Tokyo-based SoftBank, which offers the chatty childlike Pepper companion robot, said the purchase underlines how robotics is a key part of its business.

APPLE — Apple CEO Tim Cook has urged graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology not to forget humanity and compassion in scientific pursuits. In his commencement address Friday, Cook told MIT graduates and their families that technology without basic human values is worthless.

FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

HOUSING — Home loan volumes fell by more than expected in April in another sign that tighter lending conditions are starting to cool the runaway property market that has worried regulators.

ANZ — ANZ is raising variable rates on its interest-only mortgages by 0.3 percentage points as it reins in riskier lending in response to regulatory changes.

SURFSTITCH — Embattled online sport clothing retailer Surfstitch has refused to answer a major shareholder’s questions put to it in an open letter because, it says, they are “speculative”.

ARDENT — Visitor numbers and revenue at Ardent Leisure’s theme parks picked up last month but both are still down by more than a third on the same time last year.

COCA-COLA — Soft drink giant Coca-Cola is bringing a new no-kilojoule product to market that, if successful, will replace the nine-year-old Coke Zero brand.