Finance News Update, what you need to know

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

The Australian dollar has bounced back above 85 US cents, boosted by a weaker greenback.

At 0630 AEDT on Tuesday, the local currency was trading at 85.15 US cents, up from 84.38 cents on Monday.

And the Australian share market looks set to open flat after Wall Street fell on poor Black Friday sales and a China manufacturing slowdown.

At 0645 AEST on Tuesday, the December share price index futures contract was up four points at 5,216.

ELSEWHERE:

WASHINGTON - The US manufacturing sector cooled slightly in November but held at a solid pace of expansion, according to a private survey.

MOSCOW - The beleaguered rouble has recorded its biggest one-day fall since the financial meltdown of 1998 after oil prices sank further amid spreading worries about Russia's economy.

TOKYO - Moody's has downgraded its credit rating for Japan, citing "rising uncertainty" over the country's debt situation and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's faltering efforts to kickstart growth.

PARIS - Thousands of business owners have taken to the streets in French cities in a rare protest against hefty taxes, charges and stifling regulations they say are driving their firms into the ground.

TEHRAN - France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen is in "intense" talks about resuming production in Iran, a representative of the carmaker says.

OSLO - The city of Oslo says it has filed a police complaint against Uber, recently launched in Norway, claiming the car-sharing service does not have all the required permits.

NEW YORK - Pfizer has completed its $US635 million ($A687.04 million) purchase from Baxter International Inc of two vaccines and part of the factory in Orth, Austria, where they're made.

WASHINGTON - A hacker group has tapped into email accounts of executives in more than 100 companies that could give them lucrative access to market-moving information, a US security firm says.

PARIS - The Chinese conglomerate Fosun has reportedly sweetened its bid to win control of French holiday group Club Med, coming in higher than a rival offer from an Italian businessmen.

OMAHA, Nebraska - Warren Buffett's specialty chemical subsidiary Lubrizol will spend at least $US750 million ($A811.47 million) to acquire businesses that make oilfield chemicals and drilling fluids.

WASHINGTON - There will be cooler growth in the global smartphone market over the next few years amid "cutthroat" competition that will bring down prices for many consumers, a market tracker says.