Finance news you need to know today

BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros says he will spend more than half a billion dollars to meet the needs of migrants and refugees.

George Soros attends the 2016 Concordia Summit at the Grand Hyatt New York on 20 September 2016 in New York City. Picture: Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit

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

1. SYDNEY — The Australian dollar is unchanged against the greenback with the US dollar steady as investors await decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. At 0635 AEST on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 75.56 US cents, unchanged from Tuesday.

2. SYDNEY — The Australian market looks set to open slightly lower after Wall Street closed little changed ahead of interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. At 0645 AEST on Wednesday, the share price index was down eight points at 5,282.

3. DALLAS — Former US President George W. Bush has entered the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Australia and New Zealand are signatories of, hosting a forum at his presidential library extolling his successor’s Asian free trade deal.

4. NEW YORK — Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May says the UK will ratify the Paris climate change agreement by the end of the year as she gave her first address to the United Nations.

5. WASHINGTON — America’s income gap between black and white workers is the widest in nearly four decades, according to a new report.

6. WASHINGTON — Home builders pulled back on construction in August, causing the pace of US housing starts to fall to their lowest level in three months.

7. UNITED NATIONS — Billionaire investor George Soros says he will invest $US500 million ($A663 million) to meet the needs of migrants and refugees.

8. MILANO — Italian oil major Eni has delayed the planned $US3.4 billion ($A4.5 billion) sale of its domestic retail business, sources say, as political uncertainty caused by an upcoming referendum on democratic reform hinders major deals across the country.