Finance news you need to know today

BRITAIN’S new plastic five-pound note, bearing the portrait of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has fallen foul of thousands of people.

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

1. SYDNEY — The Australian dollar has continued to creep higher against its US counterpart as the greenback falls against a basket on currencies on profit taking. At 0635 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 74.85 US cents, up from 74.80 cents on Tuesday.

2. SYDNEY — The Australian market looks set to open up, after Wall Street edges higher pushing the Nasdaq to a record high. At 0645 AEDT on Wednesday, the share price index was up 13 points at 5,475.

3. WASHINGTON — The US economy in the third quarter grew at the strongest pace in two years, with a revised report showing stronger consumer spending than first estimated.

4. LONDON — Britain cannot begin negotiations with the European Union until it has triggered the formal exit procedure but it can have discussions with the leaders, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May says.

5. BRUSSELS — The EU has rebuffed a call from pro-Brexit British MPs for a quick deal on mutual residence rights for British and EU expatriates, telling them it’s up to their government to launch full-blown divorce talks.

6. ROME — A member of the Italian family who controls the Fiat-Chrysler car giant has been briefly arrested in New York for faking his own kidnapping to raise money for a sex-and-drugs fest with a male escort, reports say.

7. LONDON — Britain’s new plastic five-pound note, bearing the portrait of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has fallen foul of thousands of people who object to the use of animal fats in their manufacture.