Finance News Update, what you need to know

WORLD FINANCE UPDATE:

The Australian dollar is under pressure against a stronger greenback.

At 0630 AEDT on Monday, the local currency was trading at 84.68 US cents, down from 84.99 cents on Friday.

And the Australian share market looks set to open lower after OPEC chose not to cut oil production levels.

At 0645 AEST on Monday, the December share price index futures contract was down 44 points at 5,294.

ELSEWHERE:

KUWAIT CITY - Gulf Arab stocks have plunged on their first trading day since OPEC decided to maintain oil output in a move that sent crude prices crashing to five-year lows.

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait Oil Minister Ali al-Omair has urged non-OPEC crude producers to co-operate to help stabilise the oil market and prevent sharp fluctuations in prices.

NEW DELHI - Leading gold buyer India has announced it has eased controls on imports of the yellow metal after its current account deficit narrowed sharply.

BRUSSELS - Inflation in the eurozone has returned to a five-year low, official data shows, raising pressure on the European Central Bank to unveil even more steps to fight the threat of deflation.

SHANGHAIP - China's housing prices fell on a monthly basis for the seventh straight month in November, a survey showed.

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has floated the idea of nationalising during "two or three years" the country's loss-making Ilva steel plant, one of Europe's most polluting.

LONDON - British finance minister George Osborne says his pre-election budget update this week will contain a financial boost for the state-run National Health Service.

BERLIN - A leading German pilots' union has called a fresh walkout at Lufthansa starting Monday in an ongoing dispute with the airline over retirement benefits.

KUALA LUMPUR - Stricken Malaysia Airlines has apologised for a year-end promotion tweet that draw anger after it inadvertently drew parallels with the still-missing MH370 flight.

WASHINGTON - Sony Pictures Entertainment is reportedly looking into whether North Korea may have been behind a major cyberattack on the studio last week.