VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greece surrendered to Europe's demands, approved austerity measures to possibly receive a bailout and finally "Grexit" out of the Euro.

U.S. stock index futures fell around 1 percent on Monday as fears that Greece could be the first country to exit the euro zone intensified after bailout talks with lenders broke down over the weekend.

Now that International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde has told the Fed to wait to raise interest rates, the IMF staff has followed up with suggestions that the U.S. central bank remake its communications policy and, in a phrase, ditch the dots.

Persistent concerns of Greece leaving the euro weighed on European stocks on Thursday, with the lack of progress in negotiations on a cash-for-reform deal for Athens pushing investors towards safe-haven German Bunds.

The Nasdaq Composite on Thursday erased its last standing milestone from the dot-com era as it set a record intraday high, with stocks on Wall Street in rally mode boosted by strong economic data.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday spurned "absurd" terms of proposed aid from lenders and delayed a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund, prolonging an impasse that threatens to push Greece into default and out of the euro zone.

European shares extended losses on Friday, on track for their worst week of the year as a losing streak for bonds rumbled on, with wary investors anticipating more Greek debt drama and a solid U.S. payrolls reading.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by optimism that Greece was close to an agreement to avoid default and as further gains in bond yields lifted financials.

Greece will not make a June 5 repayment to the International Monetary Fund if there is no prospect of an aid-for-reforms deal with its international creditors soon, the spokesman for the ruling Syriza party's lawmakers said on Wednesday.

China's economic growth, already at its slowest in decades, will get worse before it gets better, as economists say it will take time before liberalizing reforms turn net positive, and Beijing needs to bite more such bullets for a sustainable turnaround.

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.

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.

Russia would adopt a tough position if Ukraine decided not to pay off debts owed to Moscow by its previous government, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast by Russian TV on Saturday.

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.

Greece intends to meet debt payments this month and reach a deal with its international lenders to unlock remaining bailout aid, but the International Monetary Fund insists on tough labor reforms, the country's labor minister said on Monday.