Exxon Mobil said Thursday it was eliminating 1,900 U.S. jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive necessitated in part by the hit the Covid-19 pandemic inflicted on oil prices.

The European Central Bank pledged Thursday to bolster its pandemic stimulus in December as surging coronavirus infections darken the eurozone's economic outlook.

The U.S. economy posted a jaw-dropping annual rate of growth of 33.1 percent in the third quarter, a result that had President Donald Trump cheering just days ahead of the election, but economists say the headline number obscures potential signs of trouble.

Europe's major stock markets advanced Thursday in opening deals, after dizzying losses the previous day, as investors digested new lockdowns in France and Germany to combat soaring coronavirus infection rates.

Some Turks were happy this week to see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan teach France a "good lesson" with a "long overdue" call for a boycott, but others said the move was "irrational" and "impossible to apply."

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler announced Tuesday it was stepping up its technical cooperation with Aston Martin that could see the German firm take a stake of up to 20 percent in the James Bond carmaker.

Calls for the Muslim world to boycott French goods over arguments over Islam and freedom of speech appeared Tuesday to have had "limited" uptake in the Middle East and North Africa.

The prices of imported foodstuffs will be lowered this week, the head of the Syndicate of Importers of Foodstuff, Consumer Products & Drinks, Hani Bohsali, said on Tuesday.

“In cooperation with all importers, the syndicate is currently studying the fluctuation in the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market with the aim of re-pricing foodstuffs imported from abroad,” Bohsali said in a statement, following a recent drop in the dollar exchange rate on the black market.

Eurozone banks tightened their requirements for handing out loans in the third quarter, a European Central Bank survey showed Tuesday, indicating nervousness over the region's recovery as coronavirus infections spike. 

Spanish banking giant Banco Santander said Tuesday it had returned to profit in the third quarter after massive losses in the second of 11 billion euros due to the coronavirus pandemic.