1. NSW and Victoria lose AAA credit rating

Australia's two biggest states have lost their AAA credit ratings, with ratings agency S&P Global Ratings pushing Victoria down two levels to AA and NSW down one level to AA+. "In our view, the Victorian government's path to fiscal repair will be more challenging and prolonged than other states because of the significant increase in debt stock projected over the next few years," S&P Global Ratings said.

2. G8 Education announces $50-80 million wage remediation program

Child care centre operator G8 Education has announced a remediation program following a review which found "inadvertent non-compliance issues with the relevant awards" of its staff. The estimated costs of the program are $50-80 million. "The Group deeply regrets that these pay errors have occurred. We apologise unreservedly to any affected team member," CEO Gary Carroll said.

3. Boris heads to Brussels

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will head to Brussels later this week to meet with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in an effort to break a deadlock of Brexit negotiations. "We agreed that the conditions for finalising an agreement are not there due to the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries," the two leaders said in a statement.

4. Bob Dylan sells back catalogue

Bob Dylan has sold his catalogue of more than 600 songs released over almost six decades to Universal Music in one of the biggest music acquisition deals ever. The New York Times estimated the deal to be worth over US$300 million ($404 million).

5. Nasdaq on top on Monday

The Nasdaq rose 55.71 points or 0.45% to 12,519.94 on Monday in the US, reaching another record-high close. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both eased back from their own record highs reached on Friday, with the Dow down 148.47 points or 0.49% to 30,069.79 and the S&P 500 falling 7.16 points or 0.19% to 3,691.96.