
Argentina Central Bank President Alejandro Vanoli resigned Wednesday under pressure from President-elect Mauricio Macri, who plans to remove currency controls with reserves standing at a nine-year low.

The court-appointed mediator in a long-running debt dispute pitting Argentina against holdout hedge funds said Wednesday that President-elect Mauricio Macri's incoming administration intended to negotiate a settlement.

Oil prices slid on Tuesday, approaching seven-year low points on a global supply glut and weak demand growth. Crude futures had already slumped Monday after the OPEC oil producers cartel last week refused to slash record high output, in a market dogged by oversupply.

Analysts expect Brazil's economy to contract by 3.50% this year, with inflation hitting 10.44%, the Central Bank said on Monday. GDP and inflation estimates come from the Boletin Focus, a weekly Central Bank survey of analysts from about 100 private financial institutions on the state of the national economy.

Argentina's incoming Finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay spoke with the United States Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to discuss economic plans to achieve sustained economic growth. The minister also announced in a long interview with Buenos Aires main dailies that lifting the dollar 'clamp' as promised by president-elect Mauricio Macri, will much depend on the level of international reserves Argentina can count with.

United States manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in three years in November under pressure from falling energy prices, the stronger dollar and slowing global growth, a survey shows.

The Bank of China will face a daily fine in the US unless it complies with a court request to give details of customers accused of selling fake goods. The bank was held in contempt of court in Manhattan last week for refusing to turn over the records.

Oil futures fell sharply Friday, with the U.S. benchmark settling below $40 a barrel after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to keep pumping crude at current production levels despite a global glut.

US jobs growth remained solid in November as the economy added 211,000 jobs, slightly above expectations. The data, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also showed the jobless rate held at its seven-and-a-half year low of 5%. Construction, food services and retail sectors all saw healthy job increases.

The European Central Bank announced on Thursday fresh stimulus measures in a bid to boost inflation and the Euro zone’s recovery but the market response reflected disappointment. Mario Dragui said the bank was extending the quantitative easing program by six months, March 2017, or beyond if necessary, but at the current rate of 60 billion Euros a month.