Finance news you need to know today

MICHAEL Jackson has led an annual list of the top-earning dead celebrities for the fourth straight year, outstripping Prince and David Bowie.

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

1. SYDNEY — The Australian dollar is lower against its US counterpart. At 0638 AEDT on Thursday, the local unit was trading at 75.66 US cents, down from 75.78 cents on Wednesday.

2. SYDNEY — The Australian market looks set to open lower after Wall Street’s major indices held modest gains after the Federal Reserve meeting minutes did little to clarify expectations on the timing for its next interest rate rise. At 0645 AEDT on Thursday, the share price index was down 16 points at 5,439.

3. WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials last month kept a key interest rate unchanged but saw the decision as a “close call”.

4. NEW YORK — The World Bank claims climate change could plunge tens of millions of city dwellers into poverty in the next 15 years, threatening to undo decades of development efforts.

5. WASHINGTON — Deutsche Bank will pay a $US9.5 million ($A12.6 million) penalty to settle civil charges that it failed to properly safeguard material non-public information generated by its research analysts and publishing an improper research report, US regulators say.

6. NEW YORK — Samsung Electronics is sending fireproof packaging and gloves to customers who bought the Galaxy Note 7 phone on its website, so they can safely return the devices after a recall and reports that some replacement phones went up in flames.

7. LONDON — Britain will see a deal with the European Union that will include maximum possible access to the bloc’s single market once it leaves the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May says.

8. NEW YORK — Michael Jackson has led an annual list of the top-earning dead celebrities for the fourth straight year, outstripping Prince and David Bowie who passed away earlier this year.