A financial regulator on Monday unveiled a strategy to monitor whether cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin pose a threat to world economic stability.

The plan follows on from a concerted drive by central banks and regulatory bodies to keep cryptocurrencies at bay.

U.S. retail sending forged higher in June, with a second straight month of accelerating auto sales as the summer driving season set in, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Asian markets fell Monday as data showed that China's economic growth slowed in the second quarter on the brink of a potential trade war with the United States.

After a positive end to last week's roller-coaster ride for equities, investors shifted back into defensive mode in early business, with concerns about the impact of tit-for-tat tariffs on the world's top two economies.

The European Union called Monday on the United States, China and Russia to work together to cool worsening global trade tensions, warning that they could spiral into violent "conflict and chaos."

A United Arab Emirates court Sunday dismissed a criminal case against the head of embattled Abraaj private equity group over bounced checks for millions of dollars, lawyers said.

But the lawyers disagreed over whether an-out-of court deal amounted to an interim or permanent settlement. 

The ratings agency Fitch on Friday downgraded Turkish sovereign debt a notch to 'BB' with a negative outlook, citing inflation and widening current account deficit.

Britain and the United States have agreed to pursue "an ambitious UK-U.S. free trade agreement" after Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday following talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Italy's deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said Friday that a majority in parliament would reject an EU-Canada free trade deal, thereby threatening to scupper the entire agreement.

China's surplus with the United States hit a record last month, data showed Friday, adding to brewing tensions between the economic superpowers as they stand on the brink of an all-out trade war that Beijing warned would have a "negative impact" globally.

The British government's new blueprint for Brexit is a "real blow" to London's all-important finance sector as it will damage jobs, tax revenues and growth, a City official said Thursday.