Finance news you need to know today

SOME of the Crown Resorts employees imprisoned in China on gambling charges, including two Australians, have been released.

THE Australian market looks set to open half a per cent higher after Wall Street’s Dow Jones closed at a record high following Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony before Congress. At 0700 AEST on Thursday, the share price futures index was up 27 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 5,652.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar has continued its climb against its US counterpart which has remained steady. The local currency was trading at 76.79 US cents at 0700 AEST on Thursday, from 76.44 on Wednesday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

WASHINGTON DC — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has told Congress that the central bank expects to keep raising interest rates at a gradual pace, and also plans to start trimming its massive bond holdings this year.

WASHINGTON DC — The United States has notified South Korea it wants negotiations to make amendments to a five-year-old free trade agreement to remove barriers to US trade.

BRUSSELS — Official figures show that the industrial sector in the 19-country eurozone had its strongest month this year in May, a development that augurs well for the region’s second-quarter growth.

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator has set out tough conditions for Britain to meet during the first months of talks before both sides can start looking at a future relationship.

LONDON — Unemployment in Britain has fallen once again as the labour market shows resilience to a slowdown in the wider economy.

BEIJING — Chinese banks extended more credit than expected in June as housing loans remained strong, amid a continuing clampdown on risky shadow lending activities.

WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

CROWN — The ordeal for Crown Resorts employees jailed in China for gambling crimes is drawing to a close, with some of those imprisoned, including two Australians, released on Wednesday.

CONSUMER — Consumer sentiment has risen despite banks increasing rates on interest-only mortgages, but pessimists still outnumber optimists.

ADAIRS — Shares in Adairs have soared to a five month high after the manchester and homewares retailer’s sales rebounded to hit the top end of its forecast.

WATTLE — Wattle Health Australia shares have soared after the infant formula supplier acquired a stake in Australian infant formula maker Blend & Pack, helping to secure its business in China.

MIRRABOOKA — Small to mid-cap investment specialist Mirrabooka has suffered a 14 per cent slide in full year profit due to weaker returns from its industrial stocks.

ASTRAZENECA — Global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is investing $100 million in expanding its Sydney manufacturing plant to help meet rising Chinese demand for an asthma medicine.

XERO — Cloud accounting provider Xero is using its sturdy revenue growth to further cash in on the artificial intelligence and machine learning space, calling it the next era of accounting innovation.