China’s state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients after the US authorized secondary sanctions on overseas financial firms that aid Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. At least two banks ordered a review of their Russian business in recent weeks, focusing on cross-border deals, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.

Canada's annual inflation rate rose as expected in December, data showed on Tuesday, and underlying prices pressures remained, dashing hopes that the central bank would shift into rate-cut mode early this year, Reuters reported. Annual inflation rose to 3.4% in December from 3.1% in November, matching estimates by economists polled by Reuters. On a monthly basis, consumer prices matched expectations as well and fell 0.3% from November.

The curtain has come down on several stores of British shoe brand Clarks. The stores in Amsterdam (two), Breda, The Hague, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Leidschendam, Maastricht, Rotterdam and Utrecht were declared bankrupt on January 9, according to the public insolvency register, FashionUnited.uk reported. G.A. De Wit has been appointed receiver. FashionUnited sought contact with the trustee, but is still waiting for a response.

Mexico's antitrust authority said on Wednesday it was investigating the country's freight rail transportation market amid government plans to build out railway infrastructure, Reuters reported. Without mentioning any companies by name, the antitrust watchdog Cofece said there were elements suggesting the "absence of competitive conditions" in the industry. Mexico's rail sector, which moves a quarter of the total merchandise transported by land, is dominated by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Grupo Mexico's transport unit.

Two weeks into its operations, Mexico state airline Mexicana de Aviacion’s slow ramp-up has allowed some passengers the experience of private travel, Bloomberg News reported. A report from YouTube user Jorge de Leon showed him ecstatic to fly in a completely empty plane from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, to Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles airport, on a flight in the airline’s first week of operation. Three people had flown that route the previous day according to the crew, he noted.

Mexico’s consumer prices rose more than expected in December with increased spending during the holiday season keeping pressure on the central bank as it starts considering an interest rate cut in coming months, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 4.66% compared to the same period a year earlier, up from 4.32% in November, the national statistics institute reported Tuesday. The print was also above the 4.57% median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Armed with a multibillion-dollar war chest, Canada is offering money to cities to ditch zoning restrictions that thwart residential construction as the country deals with an acute housing shortage, the Wall Street Journal reported. Canada’s Liberal government is targeting municipal-government rules that, among other things, limit the number of units and stories per lot in a bid to increase density in the country’s cities.

Supply chain pressures cooled down last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Friday, but it's possible the benign reading may be the calm before some turbulence arrives, Reuters reported. The bank’s Global Supply Chain Pressure index moved to a reading of -0.15 in December from November’s upwardly revised 0.13. December's negative reading points to below-normal supply chain pressures, which suggests a diminished contribution to inflation pressures.

Canada's economy gained a net 100 jobs in December, entirely in part-time work, and the jobless rate held at 5.8%, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Employment in the goods producing sector fell by a net 42,900 jobs, largely in manufacturing. The services sector was up by a net 43,100 positions, mostly in professional, scientific and technical services, as well as health care and social assistance. Read more.

Activity in Canada's service sector deteriorated for a seventh consecutive month in December as elevated borrowing costs weighed on the housing market, S&P Global Canada services PMI data showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. The headline business activity index edged up to 44.6 in December from a near three-and-a-half-year low of 44.5 in November. However, it remained well below the 50 threshold which separates expansion from contraction in the sector. The index has been below 50 since June.