Business

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks dropped more than 1% on Monday, the first trading day of the new year, pulling back after recent gains to record highs, while the U.S. dollar was up slightly.

State-owned investment funds invested the least in real estate in eight years in 2020, shying away from offices and hotels in particular, as the coronavirus crisis and Brexit sapped appetite.

The joint venture of Amazon.com Inc, Berkshire Hathaway Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co will cease to exist at the end of February, three years after the companies came together hoping to clamp down escalating healthcare cost.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma's absence from public view in the past two months, including missing the final episode of a TV show on which he was to appear as a judge, has fueled social media speculation over his whereabouts amid a Chinese regulatory clampdown on his sprawling business empire.

Bitcoin fell sharply on Monday, losing ground from a record high of $34,800 touched a day earlier, with traders citing volatility in highly leveraged futures markets.

A closely watched gauge of growth in British manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in three years last month, as factories rushed to complete work before the end of the post-Brexit transition period on Dec. 31.