BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s imports grew at their fastest pace in 10 years in May, fuelled by surging demand for raw materials, although export growth slowed more than expected, weighed by disruptions caused by COVID-19 cases at the country’s major southern ports.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares turned sluggish on Monday as relief over a benign U.S. jobs report was chilled by caution ahead of key inflation data, while a coronavirus outbreak in Taiwan took an increasing toll on hard-pressed chip makers.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower on Friday as signs of a strengthening U.S. recovery boosted bets for higher inflation and an earlier tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Friday as concerns about the patchy roll-out of anti-coronavirus vaccinations around the globe tempered optimism earlier in the week that demand for fuels was recovering from the depths of the pandemic.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar was perched near multi-week highs on Friday, basking in its biggest gains in about a month after robust jobs data threw investors’ focus on to the strength of the U.S. recovery and on the possibility of it driving policy tightening.

Asian shares were a touch below a recent three-month top on Thursday with China a tad weaker as investors weighed inflation concerns ahead of key U.S. economic data while oil prices rose to near 1-1/2 year highs.