US Secretary Treasury Janet Yellen has requested a meeting with financial regulatory authorities to discuss recent market volatility following a social-media-fueled buying frenzy over shares in video game store GameStop and other stocks shorted by hedge funds.

Yellen called for the meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Treasury said in a statement late Tuesday.

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament on Tuesday rejected a budget bill for the next Iranian year put forward by the administration of the moderate President Hassan Rouhani, state television reported.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba saw profits jump over the last three months of 2020 as economic activity returned in China and online spending continued apace.

The eurozone economy shrank less than expected in 2020 given the devastating consequences of the covid-19 pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday.

BP reported Tuesday that it tumbled into a massive $20.3-billion (16.8-billion- euro) net loss last year, despite a slender fourth-quarter profit, as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged global energy demand.

The enormous loss contrasted sharply with net profit of $4.0 billion in 2019, the British energy major said, adding that the  oil sector had been "hit hard" by the Covid-19 crisis.

Dubai on Monday ordered bars to close until the end of the month to suppress a spike in coronavirus cases, after tourists flocked to the emirate over the holiday period.

Lebanon on Monday hiked the price of subsidized bread by a fifth, as the government struggles to maintain funding key goods amid an economic crisis that has already sparked protests.

Caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said the price was due to an increase of wheat prices worldwide coupled with the high exchange rate to buy dollars.

Silver prices hit eight-year highs Monday with support from investors carrying out action similar to that which sent shares in video game retailer GameStop surging.

U.S. President Joe Biden will on Monday meet with a group of Republican senators who have proposed an alternative to his massive Covid-19 relief plan, but their measure excludes key programs Democrats consider essential. 

Wall Street indices opened higher on Monday, as traders searched for deals after a chaotic week that saw shares of some companies targeted in a social-media fueled buying spree surge.