Japan’s factory output shrank for the first time in three months in December as a decline in machinery production outweighed a small rise in autos, casting a cloud over the strength of the economic recovery.

The US Federal Reserve is not ruling out raising rates by half a percentage point if inflation remains high, Fed official Raphael Bostic said in an interview with the Financial Times.

India has forecast its economy will grow 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent for the fiscal year starting in April, down from 9.2 per cent projected in the current year, as it fights a spike in Covid-19 cases and rising inflationary pressure.

Oil rose more than 1 per cent on Monday to the near 7-year highs hit in the previous session, while supply concerns and political tension in Eastern Europe and the Middle East put prices on track for their biggest monthly gain in almost a year.

The eurozone economy posted robust growth last year, official data showed Monday, but fallout from the Omicron variant and an energy crunch have raised doubts about the bloc’s ability to sustain the pace.

Prices are on the rise for power-assisted bicycles, which are becoming fixtures as a means of transportation in everyday life.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan repeated his unorthodox economic policy on Saturday, saying interest rates would be lowered further and inflation would fall as a result, days before inflation data for January is announced, adding the country’s economic woes would pass.

China will toughen law enforcement to curb monopoly practices and unfair competition in the pharmaceutical industry as the government seeks to foster a good business environment, the industry ministry said on Sunday.

High global natural gas prices are breaking a two-year logjam of new US liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with at least three of the multibillion-dollar proposals likely achieving enough supply contracts to start construction this year, said developers and industry experts.

British businesses grew at the slowest pace since April 2021 during the past three months, after demand for face-to-face services slumped due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Confederation of British Industry said on Sunday.

Growth in China’s factory activity slowed in January as a resurgence of Covid-19 cases and tough lockdowns hit production and demand, but the slight expansion offered some signs of resilience as the world’s second-largest economy enters a likely bumpy new year.

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon’s total compensation for 2021 will be $35 million, the bank said on Friday.

Oil prices rose to a more than seven-year peak on Friday and recorded their sixth straight weekly gain as geopolitical turmoil exacerbated concerns over tight energy supply.

Spain’s economy grew by 5.0 per cent in 2021, showing a remarkable bounceback from a year earlier but below the government’s target, an initial estimate by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed Friday.

Global gold demand soared in the fourth quarter of 2021 as inflation rocketed, helping to recoup much of the drop triggered by the pandemic, industry data showed Friday.

France’s economy grew at its fastest pace since 1969 last year, official data showed Friday, enjoying a strong rebound from coronavirus lockdowns fuelled in part by massive government support.

The China Securities and Regulatory Commission (CSRC) met this week with executives at top western banks and asset managers to reassure them about the country’s economic prospects after regulatory crackdowns in 2021, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

Myanmar’s economy will remain critically weak for much of 2022 and will be “severely tested” by the impacts of a coup a year ago, but there are recent signs of stabilisation in manufacturing and exports, according to the World Bank.

US stocks maintained gains Wednesday even after the Federal Reserve signaled an interest rate hike could be coming soon, while tension between Russia and Ukraine pushed oil prices to highs not seen since 2014.

The US trade deficit in goods widened to a record high in December as imports increased for a fifth straight month amid strong domestic demand, suggesting that trade likely remained a drag on economic growth in the fourth quarter.