VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with China stocks nearing a seven-year peak on hopes for more infrastructure spending and policy stimulus, while oil prices suffered further from excess supply.

South Korea hopes its infrastructure companies will benefit from the country joining the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the finance ministry said on Friday.

Asian stocks were mixed on Friday and the dollar rebounded as rising tensions in the Middle East clouded the investment outlook.

Australia has invited Germany, France and Japan to pitch for a contract to build its new submarine fleet, kicking off a contentious A$50 billion ($38.8 billion) project which has become a political football at home.

The Obama administration has again invited Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff for a state visit to Washington, a diplomatic breakthrough that both sides hope will lead over time to greater trade between the two biggest economies in the Americas.

U.S.-based property investment fund Aetos Capital Real Estate is preparing to sell Simplex Investment Advisors, a Japanese real estate asset management firm, seeking as much as 200 billion yen ($1.7 billion), people with knowledge of the deal said.

Toyota Motor (7203.T) is finalizing plans for its first passenger car assembly plant in Mexico that could be approved by its board as early as next month, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

China is discussing ways in which a new regional lender being pushed by Beijing can cooperate with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on Sunday, as he sought to fend off concerns that the two banks would become rivals.

As the dollar surged in the last 12 months, David Marcus, head of the Evermore Global Value fund, steadily increased his stake in Europe. He now has 60 percent of his portfolio invested in companies in the euro zone, the largest stake among any global fund tracked by Lipper.

A rift is emerging between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his hand-picked central bank boss on how to fix Japan's tattered finances, which could blunt the impact of the "Abenomics" stimulus policies they have worked together to prosecute.

World shares rose back towards all-time highs and a slump then jump in the dollar triggered wild moves in currency markets on Thursday, as investors priced in a later start and a slower pace for future U.S. rate rises.

Panasonic Corp said on Wednesday it has agreed to increase the base salary for its employees by 3,000 yen a month, higher than last year's 2,000 yen hike, following annual wage negotiations with the electronics maker's labor union.

Australia expects to make a decision within weeks on whether it will seek to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Saturday.

A real estate arm of a Japanese media group Fuji Media Holdings edged out a fund run by Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and others to buy a hotel holding company from a Japanese government-controlled fund, people involved in the sale said.

European equities were set for a sixth straight week of gains on Friday, fuelled by a dramatic slide in the euro on the back of the European Central Bank's bond-buying plan that has kept euro zone yields near record lows.