The EU embargo on Iranian crude due to come fully into effect on Sunday, on the heels of further U.S. sanctions, has already bitten deeply into the Islamic republic's all-important oil sector.

Despite official denials, Iran oil exports have plummeted some 40 percent in the past six months, to 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd), according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Toyota Motor is expanding a tie-up with Germany's BMW on hybrid and fuel-cell vehicle technology as the global automakers push further into the "green" market, a report said Monday.

The two firms' top executives will announce in Germany this week that they are boosting a previously announced agreement involving joint research on next-generation lithium ion batteries, the Nikkei business daily said.

Moody's hit 28 Spanish banks with new credit downgrades Monday, as Madrid formally requested a rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) for the banking sector from its Eurozone partners.

Moody's said the banks face rising losses from commercial real estate loans and that Madrid's own lowered credit grade also contributed to the rating cuts.

Dubai-based financial services and investment group, Saffar, said Monday it has sold its online Mideast business news service Zawya to Thomson Reuters.

"The sale of Zawya to Thomson Reuters is a testament to the fact that Zawya has become an unsurpassed regional platform," said Yousef Al-Quraishi, chairman of Saffar, in a statement.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority believes the world economy offers opportunities for it and other patient investors, despite an uncertain outlook, the government-run fund's managing director said in a report released Monday.

ADIA's 2011 annual review shed little new light on the operations of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. But the comments from Managing Director Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan suggest the tight-lipped fund remains guardedly optimistic about a recovery in economic growth.

Japan and Russia have agreed to throw their support behind a private-sector project to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Russia's Far East, a Japanese official said Monday.

Japanese trade and industry minister Yukio Edano and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in St. Petersburg at the weekend, trade ministry official Tsutomu Kato said.

South Korea's May imports of Iranian crude oil fell 39.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.96 million barrels as it cuts shipments in line with a U.S. sanctions drive, figures showed Monday.

Imports from January to May dropped 15.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the preliminary figures from the state Korea National Oil Corporation.

Asian markets fell Monday on pessimism over whether a European summit this week will come up with a plan to address the region's crippling debt crisis.

Last week's announcement by the Eurozone’s four biggest economies to set aside more than $160 billion to boost growth had little impact on sentiment, with most of the cash coming from existing projects.

The Russian government is this month set to agree a framework to settle North Korea's $11 billion debt to Moscow dating back to Soviet times, a deputy minister said.

Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak made a rare visit by a top Russian official to Pyongyang from May 31 to June 2 to discuss the settling of the outstanding debt.

Vendors of Apple products in Iran on Saturday scoffed at U.S. media reports that the consumer technology giant was banning U.S. sales to customers of Iranian background, pointing out that iPads and iPhones are widely available in Tehran.

One salesman who gave only his first name, Hossein, told Agence France Presse that he had sold 40 iPhones the day before, and explained that prices for Apple items in Iran were only around $50-$60 more than in the United States.