WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is higher, boosted by gains on Wall Street and commodity markets on Friday.
At 0630 AEST on Monday, the local unit was trading at 93.73 US cents, up from 93.48 cents on Friday.
And the share market is set to open slightly higher after Wall Street rose on Friday due to strong earnings from several retailers.
At 0700 AEST on Monday, the March share price index futures contract was up seven points at 5,498.
ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - New US home construction surged in April, mostly in the volatile multi-family sector, while gains were weak in building more economically important single-family homes, government data shows.
NEW YORK - The head of US bank Goldman Sachs has warned that guilty pleas from rivals BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse, under legal proceedings in the United States, could hurt the financial system.
LONDON - The British housing market has "deep, deep problems" and is the biggest risk to the country's financial stability, the governor of the Bank of England says.
NEW YORK - US drugs giant Pfizer is planning to beef up its takeover offer for British competitor AstraZeneca, the Wall Street Journal says.
BERLIN - Deutsche Bank is seeking to raise up to 8 billion euros ($A12 billion) in fresh capital, in what would be the second biggest recapitalisation in the bank's history.
TOKYO - Japan's eight car makers have joined forces to develop environmentally friendly engines to stave off fierce competition from foreign rivals.
ROME - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government has approved the sale of up to 40 per cent of the postal service as part of a wide-ranging privatisation program to raise some 12 billion euros ($A18 billion).
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