WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar is slightly higher after dropping below 87 US cents on concerns over emerging markets and weak Chinese data.
At 0630 AEDT on Monday, the Australian dollar was trading at 87.69 US cents, up from 87.68 cents on Friday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open lower following the lead of international markets on continued unease over emerging markets.
At 0645 AEDT on Monday, the March share price index futures contract was down 23 points at 5,120.
ELSEWHERE:
BEIJING - China's official gauge of its manufacturing sector slipped to a five-month low in January, the government says, confirming a slowdown in factory activity in the world's second largest economy.
WASHINGTON - A US judge has approved an $US8.5-billion ($A9.7-billion) settlement between Bank of America and a group of investors for losses on dodgy mortgage-backed securities whose collapse triggered the 2008 financial crisis.
MANILA - Swiss mining giant Glencore Xstrata is expected to pull out of a $US5.9 billion ($A6.74 billion) gold-copper mining project in the Philippines, its Australian partner Indophil says.
BERLIN - General Motors Co's Opel unit has agreed to extend by two years, until the end of 2018, a guarantee that workers at three German plants won't face layoffs.
SAN RAMON, CaliforniaP - Chevron says profit fell 32 per cent in the fourth quarter on lower oil and gas production and lower prices for refined fuels relative to the cost of crude.
WASHINGTON - Rating firm Moody's has downgraded Ukraine's sovereign debt rating a notch, citing the country's escalating political crisis and concerns about whether it will continue to have Russian financial support.
