VENTURE CAPITAL POST

A black Monday for Greece's stock market. Its benchmark Athens Stock Exchange Index ended the day 16% lower after it re-opened for the first time in five weeks.

Canada is now facing its worst dilemma - a mild contraction, according to Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada.

India's wholesale prices fell at a slower-than-expected annual rate of 2.36 percent in May, their seventh straight fall, mainly on the back of plunging oil and manufacturing goods prices, government data showed on Monday.

U.S. job growth accelerated sharply in May and wages picked up, signs of strong momentum in the economy that bolster prospects for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in September.

Wall Street was set to open little changed on Wednesday with investors cautious ahead of the release of minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting, which is expected to shed light on when interest rates will be hiked.

China's factories suffered their fastest drop in activity in a year in April as new orders shrank, a private business survey showed on Monday, hardening the case for fresh stimulus measures to halt a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Manufacturing activity growth remained sluggish in some of the world's major economies in April, suggesting that global economic growth remains "moderate and uneven," as the International Monetary Fund described it in its World Economic Outlook in April.

Expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector weakened in April as growth in output and new orders fell, according to an industry report released on Friday.

U.S. economic growth likely braked sharply in the first quarter as harsh weather dampened consumer spending and energy companies struggling with low prices cut spending, but there are signs activity is picking up.

As the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee wraps up its third meeting of the year, a critical task awaits the U.S. central bank: narrowing the wide gap between how it and the markets view the path of interest rates.

U.S. business investment spending plans fell for a seventh straight month in March, weighed down by a strong dollar and lower energy prices, suggesting the economy was struggling to rebound from a recent soft patch.

Japanese manufacturing activity contracted in April for the first time in almost a year as domestic orders and output fell, which could fuel concerns that the country's modest economic recovery is losing momentum.

Asian shares rose on Thursday, shrugging off weak U.S. data overnight that raised concerns ahead of Friday's key employment figures, as investors covered positions ahead of the Easter holidays.

The euro and world shares gained on Tuesday as the dollar steadied before a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, where the Fed may edge closer to its first interest rate rise in almost a decade.

Once depicted as a "Blue Banana" stretching from Manchester to Milan, Europe's industrial heartland has moved eastwards just as its political center of gravity has shifted to Germany.