VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greece is not a topic for leaders of the Group of Seven countries to discuss at a meeting in Bavaria starting on Sunday, a German government spokesman said, adding that it was up to Athens and its lenders to resolve the crisis.

European shares rose on Monday, helped by an almost five percent rally in Chinese stock markets and rumours of progress in Greece's debt talks that halted sales of the euro.

Greece and its European creditors agreed on the need to reach a cash-for-reforms deal quickly as Athens missed a self-imposed Sunday deadline for reaching an agreement to unlock aid, sources close to the talks said.

Greece's government is confident of reaching a deal with its creditors this week and is open to pushing back parts of its anti-austerity program to make that happen, the country's interior minister said Saturday.

Years of uncertainty and economic pain spent keeping Greece in the euro zone boils down in June to a handful of make-or-break debt repayments, while a raft of key data in the next few days will point to the progress of the global economy.

The euro rose on Thursday as Greece fought to reach an agreement with its lenders to avoid an imminent default, but mixed signals on the state of the negotiations kept other markets little changed.

The dollar took a breather on Thursday after hitting its highest level against the yen since 2002, and stocks stuttered as high-flying Chinese shares tumbled and European officials downplayed talk of an imminent deal to keep Greece afloat.

U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday and the Nasdaq logged a record high close, led by a rebound in technology and healthcare stocks and optimism that Greece would avoid defaulting on its debt.

A string of reversals from sharp moves the previous day marked global financial market trading on Wednesday, with stocks and oil gaining ground and the U.S. dollar falling after its biggest rally in two years.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, pushing the S&P 500 to its biggest decline in three weeks, weighed down by concerns about Greece and some upbeat data that fueled expectations that a U.S. rate hike could come sooner rather than later.

A senior German official said on Tuesday there was no reason to believe Greece would be in default after a 300 million euro payment to the IMF falls due on June 5.

Finance ministers from the world's largest developed economies meet in Germany this week against a backdrop of faltering global growth, scant inflationary pressures and a bond market in turmoil.

Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and aims to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday, after the prime minister met with EU leaders.

Federal Reserve officials believed it would be premature to hike interest rates in June even though most felt the U.S. economy was set to rebound from a dismal start to the year, according to minutes from their April policy meeting released on Wednesday.

Greece's labor minister said on Tuesday Athens would soon conclude a deal with its foreign creditors that could unlock further loans to the cash-starved country.