Asian markets were mixed Monday following last week's painful global sell-off, with attention on the US presidential election, which comes against a backdrop of rising virus infections across the country and Europe.

French oil and gas giant Total said Friday it sustained a steep drop in profits in the third quarter as a result of the falling price of crude, but it still managed to remain in the black.

The U.S. State Department has agreed to turn over to Japan two American men accused of smuggling former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of the country while he was awaiting trial, the men's lawyers said in legal filing on Thursday.
Lawyers for Peter Taylor and Michael Taylor say the men are set to be flown to Japan from Boston on Thursday. They are urging a judge to block their transfer until they can have had a "full and fair opportunity to receive and review the State Department administrative record, present and support their challenges to the Secretary's decision, and have those challenges heard by the Court in accordance with U.S. law and procedure."

Exxon Mobil said Thursday it was eliminating 1,900 U.S. jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive necessitated in part by the hit the Covid-19 pandemic inflicted on oil prices.

The European Central Bank pledged Thursday to bolster its pandemic stimulus in December as surging coronavirus infections darken the eurozone's economic outlook.

The U.S. economy posted a jaw-dropping annual rate of growth of 33.1 percent in the third quarter, a result that had President Donald Trump cheering just days ahead of the election, but economists say the headline number obscures potential signs of trouble.

Europe's major stock markets advanced Thursday in opening deals, after dizzying losses the previous day, as investors digested new lockdowns in France and Germany to combat soaring coronavirus infection rates.

Some Turks were happy this week to see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan teach France a "good lesson" with a "long overdue" call for a boycott, but others said the move was "irrational" and "impossible to apply."

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler announced Tuesday it was stepping up its technical cooperation with Aston Martin that could see the German firm take a stake of up to 20 percent in the James Bond carmaker.

Calls for the Muslim world to boycott French goods over arguments over Islam and freedom of speech appeared Tuesday to have had "limited" uptake in the Middle East and North Africa.
