- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
Stocks mostly rise, oil falls tracking China lockdown policy
Stock markets mostly rose Monday, extending last week's strong gains, while oil prices fell after China reaffirmed its commitment to its economically painful zero-Covid policy.
The dollar was down against key rivals ahead of this week's US midterm elections.
Global markets and oil prices were buoyant last week on hopes Beijing may begin to roll back policies aimed at stamping out the disease within its borders.
But on Saturday, the Chinese government said it would "unswervingly" stick to its current plan, which involves harsh lockdowns and strict quarantine and testing regimens for even the smallest clusters of cases.
Despite the official stance, "there are still hopes in the market" that Beijing may relax Covid-19 restrictions in the coming months, Iris Pang, chief economist for Greater China at ING Wholesale Banking, told AFP.
"Traders believe that the Chinese government cannot permanently hold these existing Covid measures, and therefore the only direction is... looser Covid measures," she said.
Ongoing large-scale events, such as the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, are also seen by investors as "a kind of water-testing" by Beijing, to see if cases and deaths rise significantly, Pang added.
All eyes will be on Apple when Wall Street reopens after the tech giant warned customers would face longer wait times for iPhones with the holiday season approaching.
This comes after Covid restrictions in central China "temporarily impacted" production at the world's largest factory producing the smartphone.
Facebook-parent Meta will meanwhile become the latest tech firm to scale back its workforce, with plans to lay off thousands of employees this week, US media reported Sunday.
On Friday, Wall Street equities ended a volatile session higher after US jobs data showed hiring remained resilient and wages continued to rise, though at a slower pace.
That raised hopes of a soft landing for the world's biggest economy despite aggressive Fed rate hikes aimed at taming inflation.
Meanwhile, two years since US President Joe Biden was swept to power in one of the most fraught elections Washington has witnessed, all eyes are on the next nationwide vote Tuesday.
US voters decide every two years who gets the majority in both chambers of Congress -- and whether the president will get any new policies passed or if the opposition will be able to frustrate the agenda.
"A divided government can be good for the market," noted Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets.com.
"A Republican clean sweep would likely take key Democrat legislation off the table -- mainly positive for markets -- whilst in the unlikely event that the Democrats retain both houses it could see them push on with fiscal stimulus, mainly negative since it might be inflationary."
- Key figures around 1130 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,319.45 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 13,570.86
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 6,420.16
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,708.98
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.7 percent at 27,527.64 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.9 percent at 16,595.91 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,077.82 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 32,403.22 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $0.9980 from $0.9964 Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1460 from $1.1309
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.71 from 147.44 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.11 pence from 87.80 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $92.46 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $98.52 per barrel
U.Ndiaye--CPN