Saudi Arabia's fiscal reserves dropped to a four-year low last year as the government sought to finance a budget deficit caused by plunging oil revenues, a report said Tuesday.

The reserves of the world's largest crude exporter dropped to $611.9 billion at the end of 2015, the lowest level since 2011, down from $732 billion a year before, the Saudi Jadwa Investment said in an economic report.

German unemployment fell to a new historic low in January as the recovery in Europe's biggest economy remains on track, data showed on Tuesday. 

Unemployment stands at the lowest level since west and east Germany reunited in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall the previous year, the Federal Labor Office said in a statement.

India's central bank kept interest rates on hold Tuesday, citing the importance of  controlling inflation and noting a slowing growth momentum in Asia's third-largest economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, the level at which it lends to commercial banks, would remain at 6.75 percent as analysts had expected.

Rodrigo Rato, a former chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is to stand trial for misusing funds when he was head of a bailed-out Spanish bank, a court in Madrid said Monday.

One time Spanish finance minister Rato is one of 66 accused in a scandal that allegedly saw executives and board members at Caja Madrid and Bankia -- the group whose near-collapse sparked an EU bailout of Spain's financial sector -- spend around 12 million euros ($13 million) on themselves between 2003 and 2012, with some media reports putting the total figure above 15 million euros.

Shares in Finnish telecom giant Nokia plummeted on Monday after the group announced it had settled a patent dispute with South Korea's Samsung whose terms disappointed investors.

Nokia's shares fell by more than 11 percent on the Helsinki stock market following the announcement of the settlement.

Dubai International remained the world's busiest airport for international travel last year with a 10.7 percent rise in passenger numbers, its operator said on Monday. 

More than 78 million passengers passed through Dubai in 2015, led by an increase in travelers from India, Britain and Saudi Arabia, the state-owned airport said in a statement. 

Oil prices halted their rise in Asia Monday, hurt by the strengthening U.S. currency which makes the dollar-price commodity more expensive.

The greenback rose after Japan's central bank shocked markets Friday with a decision to adopt a below-zero interest rate policy in a bid to spur bank lending and drive up inflation.

Japan's biggest banks tumbled in Tokyo share trading Monday as a drop in their latest earnings was compounded by fears that the Bank of Japan's new stimulus measures would hit their bottom line.

Shares in the trio -- Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group -- suffered a sell-off after the central bank on Friday unveiled plans to effectively charge lenders on some deposits.

Plummeting oil prices have led to falling plane ticket prices -- and prospects for an even bigger bonanza of consumer-friendly fares in the coming months, airline industry experts say.

With fuel prices down by two-thirds from the dizzying heights of mid-2014, when oil topped $100 per barrel, the once cash-strapped airline industry is now reaping record profits.

Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf states enjoyed a strong rally Sunday on improved oil prices, reducing massive losses suffered in January.

Led by the Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi bourses, all seven Gulf markets made gains in the last session of the month but still ended January sharply lower.