Oil prices pressed higher Monday after strikes on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, shook energy markets already rattled by a decision by oil producers last week to not lift output.

Brent crude, the international standard, surpassed $70 per barrel for the first time in over a year, gaining $1.14 to $70.47 a barrel. It surged $2.62 on Friday.

Asian markets mostly fell Monday as persistent inflation fears overshadowed a forecast-busting US jobs report and Senate approval of Joe Biden's huge stimulus package, while Brent crude broke past $70 for the first time in almost two years after an attack on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia.

China's export growth jumped to the highest in over two decades, official data showed Sunday, with imports also surging in a sharp bounceback from the coronavirus outbreak that had brought activity to a near halt.

To feed her family, Lebanese mother Sandra al-Tawil sold her fridge and washing machine. Now she fears the cash-strapped state will scrap food subsidies, plunging them deeper into poverty.

Members of the OPEC group of oil producers and allies are expected to raise output in a meeting Thursday, in response to a rebound in demand and prices.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Wednesday categorically denied media reports linking banks to a dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate on the black market.

“The requirements of banking liquidity abroad, as stipulated by the central bank according to Circular 154, exceed $3.4 billion sector-wide, so is it reasonable for banks to draw them from the local black market whose volume does not exceed a few million dollars?” ABL said in a statement.

Asian markets rose Wednesday following the previous day's losses but investors remain on guard over a possible correction as concerns about asset bubbles and a surge in inflation continue to play against progress in fighting coronavirus.

Syria's pound hit a new low against the dollar on the black market Tuesday, a foreign exchange website and currency traders said, in the latest blow to the war-battered economy.

The rollercoaster saga of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has made international headlines, from his shock 2018 detention in Japan to his audacious escape the following year.

Asian markets struggled Tuesday to maintain a global rebound from last week's rout as the improving economic outlook and vaccine rollouts were offset by lingering worries that valuations may have run too far.