WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is lower against the greenback following the release of surprisingly strong jobs data in the US.
At 0630 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 93.84 US cents, down from 94.65 cents on Friday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after Wall Street's strong gains following better-than-expected US jobs figures.
At 0707 AEDT on Monday, the December share price index futures contract was up 55 points at 5,464.
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ELSEWHERE:
ATHENS - Thousands of activists from Greece's main left-wing opposition party Syriza have demonstrated against austerity measures in Athens as the government faces a no-confidence vote.
BEIJING - China's industrial output accelerated in October, retail sales showed a solid gain, and inflation was stable as the world's second-largest economy showed early signs of fourth-quarter strength.
JOHANNESBURG - Thousands of workers at an Anglo American Platinum mine in South Africa have refused to come out from underground in protest at the suspension of one of their leaders.
ALGIERS - Chinese state manufacturer FAW is to build an assembly plant in Algeria producing 10,000 vehicles per year under an agreement signed with private Algerian firm Arcofina.
ROME - Italy's troubled flag-carrier Alitalia has the option to tie up with another partner if talks with shareholder Air France-KLM over its recapitalisation fail, Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi says.
OTTAWA - A Qatari sovereign wealth fund was among a small group of investors who recently contributed $US1 billion ($A1.06 billion) to Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry, US securities filings show.
PERTH - Whisky, beef, nougat and olives are among the West Australian produce to be promoted in Shanghai this week to try to break into the Chinese market.
