Finance news you need to know today

TESLA has set the stage for the biggest test of the company’s strategy to become a profitable, mass market electric car maker.

THE Australian market looks set to open comfortably higher, despite Wall Street’s key indexes mainly ending negatively. At 0700 AEST on Monday, the share price futures index was up 24 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 5,658.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is slightly higher against its US counterpart, but lower against the yen and the euro. The local currency was trading at 79.87 US cents at 0700 AEST on Monday, from 79.80 on Friday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

WASHINGTON DC — US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he will extend for two more months one of the extraordinary cash management measures Treasury is using to stave off a debt-limit default.

EDINBURGH — The Scottish Government has called for Scotch to be defined in UK law in order to protect whisky exports after Brexit.

LOS ANGELES — Netflix has whipped out the credit card to spend an expected extra three quarters of a billion dollars on content and global expansion.

WASHINGTON — China appears to have succeeded in eliminating software programs that enable its people to view an uncensored internet.

FREMONT — Tesla boss Elon Musk has handed over the first Model 3 vehicles to 30 employee buyers, setting the stage for the biggest test of the company’s strategy to become a profitable, mass market electric car maker.

FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

BRICKWORKS — Building products group Brickworks expects to double its 2016/17 profit compared to last year, with growth boosted by east coast demand and cemented by earnings in its land and investments divisions.

YANCOAL — Commodities giant Glencore has agreed to buy a 49 per cent stake in the Hunter Valley Operations coal mine, a month after missing out on the assets in a sale by Rio Tinto.

WEBJET — Shares in Webjet have fallen after the online travel agency flagged an accounting dispute that could hurt its full-year earnings.

FONTERRA — Dairy processor Fonterra Australia will pay dairy farmers more for their milk because of strong global and local demand and strength in Fonterra’s Australian operations.

BILLABONG — Struggling surfwear retailer Billabong will take an $11.7 million hit after writing off its omni-channel solution provider.

AI TECHNOLOGY — Around a quarter of Australians are worried about losing their jobs to “robots” as more and more companies turn to emerging technologies to enhance productivity.