WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:
The Australian dollar has stayed below 92 US cents as expectations the US Federal Reserve will taper its economic stimulus program weighs on the currency.
At 0630 AEDT on Monday, the local unit was trading at 91.77 US cents, down from 91.79 cents on Friday.
And the Australian share market looks set to open higher after Wall Street's S&P 500 closed above 1,800 for the first time and the Dow recorded a fresh record.
At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the December share price index futures contract was up 23 points at 5,372.
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ELSEWHERE:
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says the US economy is improving even if its progress has been overshadowed by political gridlock and the messy rollout of his health care law.
ATHENS - The economic recovery touted by Greece's embattled government is "fragile", the nation's IMF auditor said as he called for new, targeted cuts in the next two years.
JAKARTA - Indonesian Vice President Boediono says he has been questioned as a witness by anti-graft investigators over a controversial bank bailout, in a case that could prove problematic for the government ahead of polls next year.
NEW YORK - A former top Credit Suisse trader has been sentenced to two and a half years of prison in New York for inflating subprime mortgage-related bond prices during the housing market collapse.
BERLIN - Swiss voters have soundly rejected a proposal to limit the pay of companies' highest-paid managers to 12 times that of their lowest-paid workers, a plan that business leaders had warned could weaken the prosperous nation's economy.
TOKYO - A Japanese utility plans to construct two cutting-edge coal power plants in Fukushima, an area severely hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster, a report says.
TOKYO - More than 20 Japanese and US chip makers will jointly develop technology to mass-produce a next-generation semiconductor using MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory).
GLASGOW - Glasgow Prestwick Airport is now in public ownership after it was bought by the Scottish government for STG1 ($NZ1.97).
WASHINGTON - Fisker Automotive, whose high-end electric cars caught the eye of Justin Bieber and other celebrities, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
