VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

Negotiations between Greece and its international lenders over reforms to unlock remaining bailout aid have made headway and an agreement could be closer this month, a government official said on Sunday.

Most top credit rating agencies say they would not cut Greece's rating to default if it misses a payment to the International Monetary Fund or European Central Bank, a stance that could keep vital ECB funding flowing into the financial system.

Euro zone officials sought to wring policy concessions from Greece on Wednesday to unlock urgently needed aid after Athens said it would present a list of reforms for legislation to show it is serious about implementing its promises.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday reshuffled his team handling talks with European and IMF lenders, a move widely seen as an effort to sideline embattled Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to a less active role in negotiations.

"We're going bust." "No, you're not." "You're strangling us." "No we're not." "You owe us for World War Two." "We gave already."

UBS's (UBSG.VX) chairman said a default by Greece is seen by the International Monetary Fund as "systemically controllable" and he believed it would have a negligible impact on the Swiss bank itself, according to a newspaper interview published on Saturday.

Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money, but euro zone creditors said negotiations needed to speed up to get a deal by June.