VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Stocks fell and the dollar held firm on Monday in the wake of forecast-beating U.S. jobs numbers that stoked expectations the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates sooner than previously thought.

Greece sent its euro zone partners an augmented list of proposed reforms on Friday but EU officials said several more steps were required before any release of aid funds to a country that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says has a noose around its neck.

Euro zone consumer prices fell by less than expected in February while unemployment eased in January for the third month in a row, offering signs that the risks of economic stagnation and deflation in the bloc are falling.

Asian stocks got off to a steady start on Monday as soft U.S. data was partially offset by a weekend interest rate cut by China, while the dollar hit a five-week high against the euro.

Bank lending in the euro zone fell slightly in January but at a slower pace than a month earlier, suggesting the economy may be turning a corner as consumer morale picks up in the bloc's largest economies.

The European Central Bank faces resistance from Germany to allowing any extra emergency lending for Greek banks, people familiar with the matter said, increasing pressure on Athens to sign up to an extended aid-for-reform program.

Greece has started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a plan to swap its sovereign debt for growth-linked bonds, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview published on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out a debt writedown for Greece on Saturday, and a European Central Bank policymaker threatened to cut off funding to Greek banks if Athens does not agree to renew its bailout package.

There is no fixed end to the European Central Bank's government bond-buying program, governing council member Ignazio Visco told a German paper.

After the surprises from central banks which rocked markets at the start of the year, the U.S. Federal Reserve will be watched as closely as ever this week to see that it doesn't stray from its own policy path.

National governments in the euro zone need to redouble their reform efforts to create a "genuine" economic union, ECB Mario Draghi wrote in a German magazine published on Saturday after the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme was unveiled.

The Federal Reserve could be key for Wall Street next week as investors get to hear from the U.S. central bank for the first time since a series of moves by its global peers, including the European Central Bank's massive stimulus plan.

The Swiss currency shock has raised an awkward question many investors have been fearful of asking - what if central banks become as unpredictable and fallible as they are powerful?

Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Monday, with markets expecting gloomy Chinese economic data to be published this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Wednesday, a government spokesman said, ahead of a key ECB meeting at which the bank is poised to announce a scheme to print fresh money to buy state bonds.