President Barack Obama met with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner on Sunday at the White House to negotiate ways to avoid the "fiscal cliff," according to White House officials and a congressional aide.

American International Group Inc (AIG.N) is to sell nearly all of ILFC (ILFC.N), the world's second-largest airplane leasing business, to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion, giving the fastest growing aviation market easier and cheaper access to planes.

The Conference Board releases its employment trend index for November at 1500 GMT (10 a.m. EST). In the previous report, the index read 108.2.

Virgin Atlantic VA.UL and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) will agree a partnership on transatlantic flights once the U.S. carrier seals a deal to buy Singapore Airlines' (SIAL.SI) 49 percent stake in the British airline, a source close to the UK carrier said.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (IR.N) is expected to announce as soon as Monday it will spin off its security division, two people familiar with the matter said, as the industrial conglomerate cedes to pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to unlock more shareholder value.

Opel, the ailing European brand belonging to General Motor (GM.N), said it plans to end vehicle production in 2016 at its acutely endangered Bochum plant in Germany, the company said on Monday.

China's exports growth slowed sharply to a much lower than expected 2.9 percent in November, underscoring the global headwinds dragging on an economy showing otherwise solid signs of a pick up in domestic activity.

European shares dropped on Monday, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 falling 0.3 percent to retreat from an 18-month high hit last week, on renewed worries over Italy's finances after mounting political uncertainty.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's imminent resignation has set off campaigning for an election expected in February, with financial markets on edge at the prospect of a return to an old-style Italian political crisis.

The Dow and the S&P 500 advanced modestly on Friday, though another sell-off in Apple depressed technology shares and kept the Nasdaq negative, overshadowing a sharply better-than-expected jobs report.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 81.09 points, or 0.62 percent, to 13,155.13 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 4.13 points, or 0.29 percent, to 1,418.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slipped 11.23 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,978.04.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash/editing by Chris Pizzey, London MPG Desk)

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