Bloomberg Euro-area manufacturing expanded last month at the fastest rate since April 2011, in a sign that the currency bloc’s recovery is intact heading into 2017. A Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 54.9 in December, IHS Markit said on Monday. The reading matches the initial estimate on Dec. 15 and was up from 53.7 in November. Higher import costs ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Gulf stock markets were mixed on Monday as most reopened after the New Year, with Oman falling after the release of an austere state budget for 2017. Egypt edged down although foreign investors remained net buyers of stocks. Dubai’s index rose 0.2 percent as much activity focused on speculative stocks with prices below 1 dirham. Islamic ...

  LONDON / AP Global stocks rose on the first day of 2017, though trading volumes were thin as many major markets observed New Year’s holidays. KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX was up 0.8 percent at 11,574 and France’s CAC 40 was 0.4 percent higher at 4,883. Italy’s FTSE MIB was up 1.5 percent at 18,520, though trading was still suspended ...