Addicted to liquidity and disconnected from the real economy, global markets are likely to dance in 2015 to the different monetary policy tunes played by the U.S. Fed, the ECB and China, while plunging oil prices could spice up the mix.

In 2015, "like the last seven years, it is the central bank interventions which will have an influence over the markets," said Romain Boscher, a stock portfolio manager at Amundi.

Australia's budget deficit is forecast to balloon to Aus$40.4 billion (U.S.$33.2 billion) this financial year as the government struggles with a sharp slump in commodity prices, Treasurer Joe Hockey said Monday.

In the national budget released in May, the government forecast a Aus$29.8 billion deficit for 2014/15, but it revised the figure Monday, citing lower tax revenues and delays in passing legislation.

The Indonesian rupiah Monday sank to its lowest level against the dollar since the Asian financial crisis 16 years ago, as emerging markets are hit hard by signs of recovery in the U.S.

The unit was down 1.8 percent in early afternoon trade, at 12,690 to the dollar, its lowest level since August 1998, around the time Southeast Asia's biggest economy was devastated by serious financial turmoil.

Ratings agency Fitch cut France's credit grade by one notch to "AA" on Friday, saying Paris's efforts to trim its fiscal deficit have fallen short to avoid a downgrade.

"The weak outlook for the French economy impairs the prospects for fiscal consolidation and stabilizing the public debt ratio," Fitch said.

Australia's government warned of further job losses Saturday as media reports said around 175 government agencies working in areas as diverse as Antarctic science and drought will be scrapped.

The conservative administration of Prime Minister Tony Abbott which came to power in September 2013 has consistently argued that government had become too big and wasteful under the previous Labor leadership.

The Democratic-led Senate was expected to approve a massive spending bill that would prevent a U.S. government shutdown, despite strong objections from liberals to provisions rolling back bank regulations imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The fight over the $1.1 trillion spending bill reflected the Republicans' newly gained leverage after their sweeping victories in last month's midterm elections.

Spinneys and Air France-KLM join forces to bring customers extra benefits through their loyalty programs.

Recently, Spinneys and Air France-KLM joined forces to further reward the loyalty of its customers. Customers can now benefit from both companies’ loyalty programs to gain extra profits when shopping at Spinneys.

Beijing said Friday it was "deeply disappointed" that Washington refused to back plans to reform the International Monetary Fund which would give emerging economies such as China a greater say in the institution.

The U.S. Congress earlier this week failed to ratify a new set of crucial governance and funding measures contained in the 2010 reform plan, forcing the IMF board to explore "alternative options".

The ruble fell Friday to record lows as oil prices also sank, despite Russia's central bank hiking its interest rate the day before in an attempt to halt the currency's plunge and the resulting price rises.

The ruble fell to record levels of 71 against the euro and 57 against the dollar as the Moscow stock exchange opened, before rallying slightly.

Australia's central bank governor Friday called on the nation's politicians to tackle the "real issue" of the country's growing budget deficit, saying action was needed to retain credibility in financial markets.

Treasurer Joe Hockey is expected to unveil a further blowout in the government's federal deficit in his mid-year economic and fiscal outlook Monday, with some estimates of a Aus$5 billion (U.S.$4.1 billion) increase to Aus$35 billion.