Oil fell towards $49 a barrel on Monday, pressured by high output from Middle East Opec members and as a stronger US dollar weighed on commodities.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission paid a BHP Billiton insider $3.75 million for detailed information in an investigation into alleged bribery of Asian and African officials, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday.

When hackers penetrated a secure authentication system at a bitcoin exchange called Bitfinex earlier this month, they stole about $70 million worth of the virtual currency.

China officially launched a new multi-billion dollar jet engine conglomerate with almost 100,000 employees at the weekend, as Beijing seeks to become an aerospace power and compete with the likes of Rolls Royce and General Electric.

Microsoft apps such as Office and Skype will be installed on Lenovo mobile devices powered by Android software under the terms of a collaboration announced late Monday.

Japanese manufacturing activity showed signs of steadying in August as output rose for the first time in six months, in a tentative sign that the economy may be recovering from a slump earlier this year, a private survey showed on Tuesday.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it will start selling its third smartphone powered by the company's own Tizen mobile operating system in India next week.

German car giant Volkswagen said on Tuesday it had reached a deal with suppliers to begin deliveries again after a stoppage that forced the group to halt production at several plants.

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp said Tuesday it will review its TV brand licensing deals overseas in an effort to boost its global presence under the aegis of Taiwan's Foxconn.

Surprisingly strong growth in France supported stable euro zone private business activity during August but factories could face a tougher September as new order growth stumbled, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with Goldman Sachs warning that August's price rally had been overdone and that a proposed oil production freeze at current near-record levels would not help rein in an oversupplied market.

Indian gold refiners just months ago were ramping up capacity and struggling to secure enough ore from miners. Now, they are suspending operations as a surge in smuggled bullion wipes out wafer thin margins.

Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent on Monday as China ramped up exports of refined products, US oil producers added rigs for an eighth consecutive week, and prospects emerged for increased exports from Iraq and Nigeria. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $49.39 per barrel at 1028 GMT, down $1.49 from their last close.

Taiwan is investigating a bank linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, in the wake of a $180 million fine levied by US authorities for "flagrant disregard" of anti-money laundering laws.

China's State Council, or cabinet, issued guidance on effectively lowering firms' financing costs, the latest move to cushion an economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd plans to launch a program to sell refurbished used versions of its premium smartphones as early as next year, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Saladstop owner Adrien Desbaillets has eased off on expansion plans for his organic food chain in Singapore because high wages are pressuring profit margins at a time when the affluent city state is grappling with low growth and slack global demand.

Raghuram Rajan's abrupt announcement of his departure as governor of the Reserve Bank of India came as a nasty surprise to many, especially his fans in the investment community, but the way Urjit Patel was chosen as his successor has been anything but.

Despite banks' nudging toward online tools, many US customers are not ready to give up regular visits to their nearest branch, complicating the industry's efforts to slim down.

State Bank of India (SBI), the nation's biggest lender by assets, will gain $120 billion in assets following its merger with associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the lender said in a statement on Saturday.