10 things you need to know in worldwide markets today

All over the world, national economies are very busy. Greece remains in the news, and Asian market rose slightly by a slim margin. These and many others make up the 10 ten things going on in markets all around the world today that you need to know.

1. Greek banks will physically reopen on Monday. Greek banks will reopen Monday after the ECB boosted emergency aid to the crisis-hit country and eurozone nations agreed to crucial short-term funding, boosting hopes ahead of a key bailout vote in Germany. Daily withdrawals will still be capped at €60 (£41.82 or $65.36).

2. GE is willing to offer concessions to the EU in a bid to buy Alstom's power unit. US conglomerate General Electric has offered concessions in an attempt to allay EU regulatory concerns and gain approval for its €12.4 billion ($13.49 billion, £8.64 billion) bid for Alstom's power unit.

3. Asian markets are up. As of 6:52 a.m. London time (1:52 a.m. New York time), Japan's Nikkei is up 0.20%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 1.09%, and the Shanghai Composite is up 2.04%.

4. Japan's lower house signed off on bills allowing its military to fight overseas. As opposition lawmakers walked out in protest, Japan's lower house of parliament approved legislation on Thursday that sharply changes the country's postwar defense policy by allowing an expanded role for the military.

5. Google's earnings beat expectations. Google reported Thursday that second-quarter net income climbed 2% to $3.4 billion (£2.18 billion) on an 11% rise in revenue to $17.7 billion (£11.32 billion).

6. Samsung's major merger was signed off by shareholders. Samsung C&T Corp shareholders on Friday voted to approve an $8 billion (£5.12 billion) all-share takeover offer from sister firm Cheil Industries, a close-run but key win for Samsung Group's founding family as it prepares for generational succession at South Korea's largest conglomerate.

7. Petrobras will pay half a billion dollars to settle a tax dispute. Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said late Thursday that it paid 1.6 billion reais ($508 million, £325 million) to settle part of a tax dispute with Brazilian authorities and will take the charge against earnings in second-quarter results.

8. Eurozone construction output is coming. Data on the construction sector's performance in May is out at 10 a.m. London time (5 a.m. New York time). Despite the general turnaround in Europe's economy, in April construction output was still flat compared to 12 months earlier.

9. Barclays will pay an $800,000 fine for incorrect data reporting. Wall Street's self-funded watchdog fined a unit of Barclays $800,000 (£511,800) for violations related to how the bank reported stock trades over a more than two-year period, hampering the regulator's ability to properly monitor the market.

10. Japanese firm Sharp faces a major loss. The electronics company is expected to report an operating loss of about 35 billion yen ($282 million, £180.41 million) for the quarter, down from a profit of 4.6 billion yen a year earlier, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Source: Business Insider.