Finance news you need to know today

HUNDREDS of striking Greek sanitation workers have ended a 10-day strike as steaming mountains of garbage piled up across the country.

THE Australian market looks set to open more than one per cent lower, after Wall Street fell sharply with the Nasdaq dropping nearly 1.5 per cent. At 0700 AEST on Friday, the share price futures index was down 67 points, or 1.15 per cent, at 5,710.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar continues to climb against its US counterpart, helped by the rebounding iron ore price. The local currency was trading at 76.82 US cents at 0700 AEST on Friday, from 76.64 on Thursday.

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

WASHINGTON — The US economy got off to a lacklustre start during the first three months of 2017, though it had a bit more momentum than earlier estimates indicated.

LONDON — The cyber attack that struck businesses around the world earlier this week was designed to disrupt rather than earn money, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said.

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries and all refugees entering the United States is finally scheduled to take effect later on Thursday, but in a scaled-back form that still allows in some travellers.

LONDON — Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to land one of the crown jewels of European media has been dealt a major setback after the UK government said 21st Century Fox’s STG11.7 billion ($A19.8 billion) takeover of Sky needed to be scrutinised.

KUALA LUMPUR — Customs in Malaysia have refuted a report that military radar equipment, which was being shipped from Australia to the Netherlands via a port in southern Malaysia, went missing.

ATHENS — Hundreds of striking Greek sanitation workers have ended a 10-day strike over jobs in Athens as steaming mountains of garbage piled up across the country and temperatures soared.

THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

RIO TINTO — Rio Tinto shareholders have backed the sale of the company’s NSW coal operations to China’s Yancoal for $US2.69 billion.

SLATER GORDON — The boss of beleaguered law firm Slater and Gordon has quit and the board will be cleaned out under a shake up that passes almost full ownership of the company to its lenders.

HOME SALES — New home sales rose for a second straight month in May, led by strong growth in building activity in NSW and Queensland.

REA — Shares in REA Group have fallen after the online real-estate advertiser flagged a non-cash impairment hit of approximately $180 million in its full-year results on the back of weak market conditions in Asia.

JOB VACANCIES — Job vacancies rose 1.7 per cent in the three months to May.

PRIME MEDIA — Shares in Prime Media Group are more than four per cent higher after the regional television broadcaster upgraded its profit forecast due to a cut in licence fees.

ELMO — Human resources software firm ELMO has made a strong market debut, with its shares jumping more than 25 per cent.

CABCHARGE — Taxi payment service Cabcharge has exited its UK CityFleet Networks (CFN) business as part of continuing efforts to cash out of non-core assets.

EOFY — The end of the financial year is almost upon us and there are a few last minute things you can do to fatten your tax return and avoid run-ins with the tax office.