HSBC missed expectations for the full year after revenues “collapsed” in the final few weeks of the year, amid uncertainty over global trade, a slowdown in China and the possibility of Brtain’ crashing out of the EU.

Shares in companies based in Guangdong, the Chinese province neighbouring Hong Kong, surged on Tuesday after Beijing released an outline for the development of the Greater Bay Area megaproject to create a powerhouse of innovation in the Pearl River Delta.

Huawei’s founder and president Ren Zhengfei has hit back at the US campaign against his company, labelling the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, his daughter and the company’s chief financial officer, as “politically motivated” and asserting that Washington would not “crush” the Chinese group. 

US-China trade talks remained at the fore on Tuesday as Beijing and Washington confirmed top-level negotiations would take place at the end of this week, providing support for stocks in Asia-Pacific while oil prices took a breather.

Blackmores warned on Tuesday a slowdown in China sales would dent profits in the second half of 2019, causing shares in the Australian vitamins group to slump by a third in early trading.

The EU has threatened retaliation if Donald Trump imposes punitive import tariffs on European cars, based on the findings of an investigation into whether they pose a threat to US national security.

Jean-Claude Juncker has thrown Brexit into the hands of higher forces as the UK hurtles towards its planned exit date without a divorce deal.

Honda is set to announce the closure of its plant in Swindon, putting 3,500 British jobs at risk and dealing a major blow to the UK’s embattled car industry with weeks to go before Brexit, according to the MP who represents the facility’s constituency.

The German financial regulator on Monday banned investors from shorting shares in Wirecard, the digital payments group, marking the first time it has used such powers to restrict trading in a single stock.

Chinese stocks had their best day since early November, jumping more than 3 per cent, as investors held on to the belief that Beijing and Washington will resolve a trade dispute that has hung over the country’s economy.

Portugal’s economy has moved back to pre-crisis levels and is expected to grow by about 2 per cent a year between 2018 and 2020, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday.

Italy’s far-right League under Matteo Salvini is expected to make some of the most striking gains by any political party in May’s EU Parliament election, according to the first forecast by the chamber itself of the expected outcome.

UK retailer JD Sports Fashion has bought an 8.3 per cent stake in Footasylum, a shoe and clothing chain that has lost almost 90 per cent of its market value over the past year as it contends with tough high street trading.

Petra Diamonds has appointed former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive as it grapples with a heavy debt load following a period of expansion.

Growth in India and Brazil helped Reckitt Benckiser overcome the drag from manufacturing disruption at a baby-formula factory to achieve its annual growth targets.

Pearson has agreed to sell its US schools course materials business to the private equity group Nexus Capital Management after a year of trying to find a buyer for the division.

Russian private equity investor Baring Vostok has appointed new management and intends to conduct “business as usual” after its founding partner Michael Calvey and three other executives were arrested on fraud charges last week.

British intelligence has concluded that it is possible to mitigate the risk from using Huawei equipment in 5G networks, in a serious blow to US efforts to persuade allies to ban the Chinese supplier from high-speed telecommunications systems. 

Indian security forces said that four soldiers and two alleged militants were killed on Monday in a fierce gun battle near the site of last week’s devastating car bombing, which was the worst terror attack in decades of simmering separatist insurgency in Kashmir.

Australia’s main political parties have been hacked by a “sophisticated state actor” just months before the country’s election, the government said on Monday. 

Paul Flynn, the Labour MP for Newport West has died at the age of 84, the local Labour party branch said.

Singapore’s non-oil exports fell at the fastest rate in more than two years in January as shipments to China slid by a quarter and shipments of electronics declined.

Oil rose to its highest in nearly three months on Monday amid global oil supply cuts and rising optimism that the US and China can reach an agreement on trade.

Asia-Pacific stocks got off to a solid start on Monday after a fall on Friday, with optimism on Wall Street in the interim feeding through to equity markets in the region at the week’s outset.