Finance news you need to know today

IT WOULD have created the world’s biggest packaged food company, but the $187 billion merger of Kraft Heinz and Unilever has been called off.

HERE are six things making news in business and finance around the world today.

1. SYDNEY — The Australian market looks set to open flat, following the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s lead, despite Wall Street’s major indexes achieving fresh record highs. At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the share price futures index was up five points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,760.

2. SYDNEY — The Australian dollar is firmly back below 77 US cents, but has gained against the euro and the British pound. The local currency was trading at 76.73 US cents at 0700 AEDT on Monday, from 77.09 on Friday.

3. LONDON — US food giant Kraft Heinz has withdrawn a STG115 billion ($A187 billion) bid for a mega-merger with Unilever, the firms say. The merged company would have rivalled Nestle as the world’s biggest packaged food maker by sales.

4. MUNICH — US Republican senators plan to introduce legislation to impose further sanctions on Iran, accusing it of violating UN Security Council resolutions by testing ballistic missiles and acting to “destabilise” the Middle East, a US senator says.

5. BEIJING — China is suspending all coal imports from North Korea, a measure taken to comply with sanctions imposed on Pyongyang by the United Nations.

6. CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — A SpaceX Falcon rocket has blasted off from a historic NASA launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, then succeeded in landing itself back on the ground nine minutes later.