Palestinian officials pledged to take action Tuesday against Airbnb over rooms for rent in settlements in the occupied West Bank being listed on the website as located within Israel.

Dozens of Jewish settlers advertise their homes for rent in a number of locations across the West Bank.

German airline Lufthansa said Tuesday it transported a record number of passengers in 2015, despite repeated walkouts by both pilots and cabin staff in long and bitter industrial disputes.

"The airlines of the Lufthansa group transported 107.7 million passengers in 2015, which is a new record," the carrier said in a statement.

United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said Tuesday he expects a recovery in plummeting oil prices before the end of the year.

"I am personally convinced that before the end of 2016 we're going to see a correction. The market fundamentals tell us this," Mazrouei told an energy forum in Abu Dhabi.

OPEC president Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said Tuesday that he expects an extraordinary meeting of the oil cartel in "early March" to address nosediving crude prices.

"We did say that if it (the price) hits the 35 (dollar per barrel), we will begin to look (at)... an extraordinary meeting," said Kachikwu, who is Nigerian minister for petroleum resources.

The dollar advanced against emerging market currencies Tuesday as declining risk sentiment engulfed Asia, amid fears about the weak outlook for the Chinese economy.

A sell-off in Chinese stocks last week sent shock waves through international trading floors, as investors remain worried about low global demand for commodities on the back of slower growth in the world's number two economy.

The rate at which banks charge each other to borrow yuan in Hong Kong surged to a record high Tuesday with speculation China's central bank was buying huge amounts of the unit to fend off speculators.

The overnight Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (HIBOR) for the offshore yuan jumped 53 percentage points to almost 67 percent owing to tight liquidity. The one-week rate also surged, to 33.8 percent from 11.2 percent.

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder held talks Monday with top officials in Tehran on boosting trade links and Iran's diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia.

The visit comes ahead of the expected implementation of a nuclear deal with Iran that will open its economy to Western investment after years of sanctions on its banks and key industries.

David Bowie was not just a musical visionary, he also made history on financial markets two decades ago when he rocked Wall Street with a "celebrity bond", raising $55 million.

In 1997, the British singer launched the securities backed by the royalties to all his pre-1980 albums, which included smash hits "Let's Dance" and "Hunky Dory".

Moody's Investors Service on Monday downgraded Malaysia's sovereign outlook from "positive" to "stable", citing deepening economic woes from falling oil prices and global economic uncertainty.

In a statement, the ratings agency said the country faced slowing growth and world market factors that have "undermined Malaysia's external position, with large capital outflows, a falling current account surplus, sharp exchange rate depreciation and falling reserves." 

China's stock market resumed its volatile plunges on Monday, as worries over the slowing economy and the government's ability to manage it sent traders fleeing, dealers said. 

Investors have been alarmed by slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy, which is expected to have expanded last year at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century. Official data on fourth-quarter and annual growth is due to be released next week.