A modest recovery in oil prices falls short of filling budgetary gaps in crude-exporting Gulf countries, the International Monetary Fund said, stressing the need to cut spending.

The price of the region's main commodity has partially rebounded and is hovering around $50 per barrel having hit a 10-year low of less than $30 in January, from a peak of more than $100 in mid-2014.

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn will become chairman of Mitsubishi Motors after Japan's number two automaker announced a major investment in its scandal-hit rival, a report said Wednesday.

Tunisia said Tuesday it exported a record 110,000 tonnes of dates in 2015-16, a 10 percent increase on the previous year and a rare boost for the struggling economy.

British annual inflation surged to a near two-year high of 1.0 percent in September, official data showed Tuesday, as a tumbling pound raised prices of imported goods and attracted tourists.

A former Chinese official who stockpiled so many millions at his home that money-counting machines reportedly broke when authorities tried to count the hoard was given a heavy prison sentence for corruption Monday, official media said.

Iran said Monday its oil production capacity will hit four million barrels per day by March after it was exempted from an informal agreement among OPEC members to lower output to boost prices.

"Our production capacity was 3.8 million (bpd) after the first half of the year. We will take it to 4.03 million by the end of the year" in March 2017, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said at a conference for local and international energy companies. 

Bank of America reported higher third-quarter profits Monday behind strong performance in trading and overall loan growth.

Net income rose in all four of Bank of America's operating divisions, with the consumer banking business boosted by increased mortgage production and global markets lifted by strong performance in fixed income, currencies and commodities trading.

There may have been much negative press about the dramatic fall in the pound's value but for Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony it augurs well for his business.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi will be under pressure this week to clarify the bank's stimulus plans after investors were spooked by talk of an end to its massive bond-buying program.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrote an article urging that Britain stay in the EU just days before becoming the chief campaigner for Brexit, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.