WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is slightly lower, continuing to back away from the one-month high reached towards the end of last week, as traders take profits.
At 0630 AEST on Monday, the local unit was trading at 93.95 US cents, down from 94.14 cents on Friday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open flat after escalating violence in Iraq spooked investors and falling iron ore prices continued to pressure mining stocks at the end of last week.
At 0645 AEST on Monday, the June share price index futures contract was up one point at 5,406.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - US producer prices dipped in May following two straight months of gains, as demand for services and goods weakened, government data shows.
LONDON - Standard & Poor's has lifted its outlook on Britain's credit rating to stable from negative, citing the broad recovery and progress in consolidating public finances, and confirmed its top 'AAA' assessment.
NEW YORK - The Justice Department has asked Citigroup for more than $US10 billion ($A11 billion) to settle claims the bank misled investors on mortgage-backed bonds sold before the 2008 financial crisis, a report says.
MADRID - Spain has announced it will sell a 49-per cent stake in state-owned airport operator AENA, taking advantage of a renewed optimism on financial markets to raise billions of euros.
WASHINGTON - US aerospace giant Boeing says China Eastern Airlines will buy 80 737 aircraft, a mix of current 737s and the new 737 MAX model.
THE HAGUE - A Greenpeace employee has been fired after losing the environmental charity 3.8 million euros ($A5.7 million) in a failed gamble on international currency markets.
TOKYO - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is offering to buy a 10 per cent stake in Alstom, as it seeks to sweeten a joint bid with Siemens to acquire some of the French firm's energy assets.
WASHINGTON - US medical-device maker Medtronic is in advanced talks to buy competitor Ireland-based Covidien for more than $US40 billion ($A43.28 billion), The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
JOHANNESBURG - A 122.52-carat blue diamond has been discovered in the South African mine where the world's largest gem was unearthed more than a century ago.
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