A roundup of news in finance, economics and business from around the world:

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

ROME - Italy's prime minister-designate Mario Monti says he is ready to present his new government to the president after winning wide backing - and important pledges of sacrifices - from political, business and union leaders during two days of intense consultations.

ATHENS - Greece's economy shrank 5.2 per cent in the third quarter, highlighting the depths of the crisis as parliament debated approval of a new government under Lucas Papademos.

MADRID - Spain's debt risk premium has shattered euro era records on fears over the public deficit, a clear warning to the next government just five days before an election.

ROME - Italy's Mario Monti will officially accept his nomination to replace Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister on Wednesday, cheap zentai Italian news agency ANSA reports.

BRUSSELS - The latest growth data indicate the eurozone is sinking into recession, thanks to a vicious circle of sharp cutbacks in government and household expenditure, and reduced bank lending.

ATHENS - Greece on Tuesday raised E1.3 billion ($A1.75 billion) in a sale of three-month treasury bills with return to investors rising to 4.63 per cent, the debt management agency (PDMA) said.

FRANKFURT - Germany and France continued to shore up the eurozone with surprisingly strong growth in the third quarter, but the global economic gloom is darkening fast, analysts say.

STRASBOURG - EU markets commissioner Michel Barnier has presented new curbs on international credit rating agencies that have come under sharp criticism in Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

LONDON- British Prime Minister David Cameron has attacked "pointless" European Union rules and regulations that he says are holding back growth as the 27-nation bloc battles with the eurozone crisis.

PARIS - French energy giant Total says the Syrian government has stopped paying for oil it produces in the country, which is the target of a European Union ban on oil exports.

LONDON - Inflation in Britain has fallen to 5.0 per cent in October, a larger than expected drop from the 5.2 per cent rate recorded in the previous month.

WASHINGTON - US retail sales rose at a moderate pace in October, led by electronics and appliances, while inflation at the wholesale level eased, government data showed.

WASHINGTON - US consumers appear ready to shake off some economic gloom and spend more on holiday shopping, retail sales numbers released on Tuesday suggested.

WASHINGTON - Walmart has reported a drop in profits for its fiscal third quarter but sales powered higher ahead of the crucial year-end holiday shopping season.

SANTIAGO - A Chilean court has ordered British-based mining company Anglo American to halt further sales of shares in a Chilean subsidiary.

TOKYO - Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi on Tuesday said they had signed a deal to merge their small and medium-sized liquid crystal display businesses for smartphones and tablet computers.

LONDON - The Australian-founded surfwear brand Hot Tuna is to be sold, with slow growth and a stagnant market forcing the move which will see the departure of the company's top executives.

RIO DE JANEIRO - US energy giant Chevron said Tuesday it would seal and abandon an errant oil well which for the past week has seeped oil into waters off Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state.

KHARTOUM - Sudan's cash-strapped government plans to ramp up oil production by more than 50 per cent to 180,000 barrels per day by the beginning of next year, Oil Minister Ali Ahmed Osman says.

WELLINGTON - Average prices of dairy products had their biggest gain since June 1 in Fonterra Cooperative Group's latest auction.

GENEVA - Swiss banking giant UBS looked to draw a line under a troubled period with the appointment of a new chief executive and plans for a new path to be announced on Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The first-ever trial using human embryonic stem cells to treat paralysis has been halted due to high costs, Shiny Metallic Catsuits and the company will focus instead on new cancer treatments.

BRAZZAVILLE - A helicopter sent to pick up geologists from an Australian mining company has crashed in northeast Congo, killing its Russian pilot and injuring three crew members.

LONDON - Global stock markets have moved lower in choppy trade, with investors keeping a wary eye on the eurozone debt crisis as Italian, Spanish and French borrowing costs spiked worryingly higher.

LOCAL NEWS

SYDNEY - The Australian dollar was slightly higher on Wednesday morning after an up and down night of trading.