Asian markets were mixed Monday following last week’s gains, with investors keeping a worried eye on a fresh Covid outbreak in China that could drag on the already stuttering economy.

Against a backdrop of global calls to phase out fossil fuels to help reduce global greenhouse emissions, Vietnam wants to boost domestic coal production as it grows more reliant on imports.

HSBC is emerging from its coronavirus and restructuring troubles to become more reliably profitable, boss Noel Quinn said Monday as he announced the start of a $2 billion share buyback.

Rome is drawing up an offer to try to convince Intel to invest billions of euros in an advanced chipmaking plant in Italy, as Germany emerges as frontrunner to land an even bigger megafactory planned by the US company, three sources said.

China is set to expand pilot property tax reforms, state media reported, as the government battles real estate speculation in the world’s second-biggest economy.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak plans a 5 billion pound ($6.9 billion) programme to fund health research and 3 billion pounds of extra funding for further education in next week’s budget, finance ministry officials said late on Saturday.

Nigeria will on Monday launch a digital currency, the eNaira, the central bank said, months after it barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies.

China Evergrande Group said on Sunday it had resumed work on more than 10 projects in six cities including Shenzhen - a statement that comes after it appeared to avert default with a last-minute bond coupon payment last week.

To keep the taps at his recently opened beer tasting room flowing, Peter Chekijian had no choice but to ask his main employees to come in seven days per-week.

The US budget deficit narrowed slightly in the past year as the economy recovered from the pandemic, falling $360 billion to $2.8 trillion, the government reported Friday.

Malaysia will let foreign workers back into the country after an almost 16-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and allow some tourists back to its resort island of Langkawi, its prime minister said on Friday.

The recovery of the eurozone economy is losing steam, a closely watched survey said on Friday, with big supply chain problems at factories causing price hikes not seen in twenty years.

UK retail sales volumes dropped for a fifth month in a row during September, official data showed Friday, as the country suffers supply constraints and high prices.

The United States has barred imports from a Malaysian latex glove maker over alleged labour abuses, the latest firm from the country to face such a ban.

The United Nations on Wednesday launched a funding programme aimed at preventing the Afghan economy from collapsing during the winter by getting cash flowing through the local economy again.

New Zealand passed a law Thursday forcing banks to reveal the impact of their investments on climate change, describing it as a world-first move to make the financial sector’s environmental record more transparent.

Supply bottlenecks and labor shortages have slowed US economic growth and contributed to a sharp rise in prices, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

UK government borrowing fell by more than expected in September but remains elevated on Covid, official data showed Thursday ahead of next week’s budget announcement.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, recouping earlier losses, as falling temperatures in China revived concerns about its ability to meet heating demand needs amid power and coal shortages.

Afghanistan’s economy is set to contract up to 30 per cent this year and this is likely to further fuel a refugee crisis that will impact neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.