SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian stocks drifted lower on Tuesday as worries about increasing COVID-19 deaths and lockdowns overshadowed optimism about the roll-out of coronavirus vaccinations.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s industrial output grew in line with expectations in November, expanding for the eighth straight month as the economic recovery gathered pace and global demand picked up.

TOKYO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The British pound rose against the dollar and euro on hopes that Britain and the European Union will secure a free trade agreement after their decision to extend negotiations beyond the Sunday deadline.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Stocks began a busy week with guarded gains as investors gauged the chance of added U.S. fiscal and monetary stimulus, while the British pound rose in relief as a last-gasp extension to Brexit talks dodged a hard divorce.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, pushing Brent back above $50 a barrel, buoyed by hopes that a rollout of coronavirus vaccines will lift global fuel demand while a tanker explosion in Saudi Arabia jangled nerves in the market.

China, the world’s largest auto market, had witnessed a double-digit growth in the sales of SUVs, sedans and minivans last month as the world’s second-largest economy had been recovering from a pandemic-induced slump experienced earlier this year, though the yearly sales figure had still been hovering below pre-pandemic levels, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturer said in a report earlier on Friday.