Finance news you need to know today

US FEDERAL Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the economy has come a long way in recovering from the 2008 financial crisis.

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

1. SYDNEY — The Australian dollar is lower as pressure on the US dollar eased ahead of US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s speech. The local currency was trading at 75.18 US cents at 0710 AEDT on Thursday, down from 75.44 on Wednesday.

2. SYDNEY — The Australian share market is set to open slightly lower with Wall Street flat in choppy trading as gains in technology stocks offset a weakness in retailers. At 0710 AEDT on Thursday, the local SPI 200 futures contract was down five points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,624 points.

3. WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says the economy has come a long way in recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, and the Fed is getting close to achieving its goals of maximum employment and stable inflation.

4. WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama firmly defended his decision to cut nearly three decades off convicted leaker Chelsea Manning’s prison term Wednesday, arguing in his final White House news conference that the former Army intelligence analyst had served a “tough prison sentence” already.

5. WASHINGTON — Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, US President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, voiced sharp criticism of China’s trade practices on Wednesday, telling senators he would seek new ways of combating them.

6. WASHINGTON — US President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that climate change is real, breaking with both the president-elect and his own past statements.

7. DAVOS — Two of Europe’s biggest banks warned on Wednesday they could each move around 1,000 jobs out of London, in the clearest sign yet of how financial firms are preparing for disruption caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union.

8. BERLIN — Chinese President Xi Jinping extolled the merits of multilateral co-operation on Wednesday, declaring that the Paris accord to combat climate change must be kept on track and that major powers should “keep their differences under control.”