Wall Street stocks rose early Monday following upbeat news on a coronavirus vaccine and merger announcements in the banking and retail industries.

A top EU diplomat warned Monday it was getting dangerously late to secure a post-Brexit trade deal as a week of crucial talks began in Brussels.

Fifteen Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday signed the world's biggest free trade deal, seen as a huge coup for China in extending its influence.

British and EU negotiators launched a desperate final stretch of trade talks Sunday, with both sides determined not to give ground, despite the looming threat of failure. 

Despite rising coronavirus cases across the nation, U.S. traders appeared to get a second wind on Friday, with Wall Street stocks climbing in opening trading.

European stock markets mostly rose on Friday as coronavirus vaccine hopes eclipsed worries about spiking infections across the region and the United States, dealers said.

World stocks fell back on Thursday after an overnight comeback by big technology shares that have thrived during the pandemic.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday cut its 2020 global oil demand forecast, citing a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic, with vaccines unlikely to have much of an impact until well into next year.

Dubai-based Emirates airline on Thursday posted a $3.4 bn half-year loss, its first in more than three decades, saying it had been badly hit by the global lockdown that brought air transport to "a literal standstill". 

Global maritime trade should recover next year after tanking by 4.1 percent in 2020 owing to the coronavirus, a UN agency forecast Thursday.