WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is higher on optimism about a positive outcome to the bailout negotiations between Greece and its European partners.
At 0630 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 78.45 US cents, up from 78.06 cents on Friday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after Wall Street gained on news eurozone ministers agreed to extend Greece's bailout by four months.
At 0645 AEDT on Monday, the March share price index futures contract was up 14 points at 5,859.
ELSEWHERE:
ATHENS - Greece is racing to finalise reform proposals that will keep its loan lifeline open under an EU debt deal that sees its anti-austerity ambitions curtailed.
ATHENS - Greece is under pressure to finalise reform proposals to keep its loan lifeline open as part of an EU debt deal, with its anti-austerity prime minister warning of "real difficulties" ahead.
PARIS - European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan has announced measures to raise pork prices to help the industry hit by a Russian embargo.
WASHINGTON - Moody's has cut Russia's debt rating by one notch into 'junk' territory, saying the Ukraine crisis and the fall in oil prices and the rouble will further undermine Russia's economy.
LOS ANGELES - US West Coast dockworkers and port operators have reached a tentative deal on a new labour contract, a source close to the negotiations says, averting a shutdown that would have hit about half the country's trade.
AUCKLAND - A fourth fruit fly has been found in inner-city Auckland, with New Zealand officials warning there may be more to come.
WASHINGTON - The US government has issued a hefty daily fine against Japan's Takata Corp for failing to co-operate with a federal investigation into defective airbags.
FRANKFURT - German airline Lufthansa has revealed it will not pay a dividend to shareholders for 2014 after profits nosedived last year.
ROME - Italian fashion retailer Benetton has agreed to pay into an international compensation fund for victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in which 1138 people died.
WASHINGTON - Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is reporting net income of $US1.3 billion ($A1.67 billion) for the fourth quarter.
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