Wall Street stocks opened lower Monday as worries over a new highly-infectious strain of Covid-19 in Britain offset optimism from agreement on a long-delayed U.S. stimulus bill.

Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday announced reaching an agreement with Lebanon for exporting oil to Beirut in the year 2021 according to global prices.

Asian markets sank Monday as news of a US stimulus agreement was overshadowed by surging virus cases and the imposition of a strict lockdown in England, while the pound was also hit by fears over stuttering Brexit talks.

Oil prices also sank as the new containment measures hammered expectations for travel over the Christmas period, with the discovery of a mutated and more infectious strain of the coronavirus in Britain also leading several governments to ban flights from the country.

Negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal teetered on the brink of failure Sunday, overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis and deadlocked over the issue of fishing rights.

The board of the International Monetary Fund on Friday approved the release of a second tranche of aid valued at $1.67 billion for Egypt, saying public debt and Covid-19 threatened its economic recovery.

In June, the board approved a one-year, $5.2 billion financing package for Egypt. With the latest disbursement, more than $3.6 billion will have been released.

The United States on Friday announced it has imposed export controls on 77 Chinese companies including the country's biggest chipmaker, SMIC, restricting its access to U.S. technology over its alleged ties to China's military.

Wall Street stocks dipped from records early Friday as markets awaited resolution of a long-stalled economic relief package in Congress while the United States contends with a worsening coronavirus outbreak.

Global stock markets marked time while the pound retreated Friday with the focus firmly on whether Britain and the European Union can finally agree a post-Brexit trade deal.

Roughly 60 percent of South Sudan's population face severe hunger by the middle of next year, the government and U.N. agencies warned Friday, calling for urgent assistance to address the growing crisis.

The European Union and China said Friday they were closing in on an investment agreement after seven years of painstaking negotiations.