When the company made sales worth MNT 1.9 trillion and earned profit of MNT 807 billion last year, it overfulfilled its sales plan by 240 percent, permanently increasing coal price.

Though the company informed to distribute dividends of 1072 shares, it resolved to invest its profit in railway project, considering long term development.

The United States detected a heightened state of alert by Iran’s missile forces, as President Donald Trump warned the U.S. would strike back, “perhaps in a disproportionate manner,” if Iran attacked any American person or target.

Iraq’s parliament on Sunday recommended all foreign troops be ordered out of the country after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian military commander and an Iraqi militia leader.

Spot gold XAU= surged 1.5% to $1,579.55 per ounce in jittery trade and reached its highest since April 2013.

Oil prices added to their gains on fears any conflict in the region could disrupt global supplies. [O/R]

Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose $1.46 to $70.06 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 climbed $1.17 to $64.22.

“The risk of further escalation has clearly gone up - given the direct attack on Iran, Iran’s threat of retaliation and Trump’s desire to look tough - posing the threat of higher oil prices,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital.

“Historically though oil prices need to double to pose a severe threat to global growth and we are long way from that.”

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS slipped 0.7%.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 slid almost 2% in a sour return from holiday, while E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 fell 0.5% in very choppy trade.

Chinese shares opened in the red too, with the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 off a shade while Australian shares were off 0.4%.

“Geopolitical tensions look like remaining elevated in coming days, so lending support to oil prices and keeping risk asset markets on the defensive,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank.

Sovereign bonds benefited from the safety bid with yields on 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR down at 1.769% having fallen 10 basis points on Friday. Treasury futures TYc1 gained 5-1/2 ticks.

In currency markets, the Japanese yen remained the favored safe harbor courtesy of Japan’s massive holdings of foreign assets. Investors assume Japanese funds would repatriate their money during a true global crisis, pushing the yen higher.

On Monday, the dollar was last at 107.98 yen JPY=, after falling to a three-month trough of 107.78 earlier in the session. The euro likewise eased to 120.55 yen EURJPY= having hit a three-week low.

The dollar was steadier against the other majors, with the euro little changed at $1.1161 EUR=. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was holding at 96.86 .DXY.

The risk sensitive currencies of Australia AUD=D3 and New Zealand NZD=D3 were on track for their fourth straight session of losses. [AUD/]

The ban applies to mint and fruit flavours that are offered in cartridge-based e-cigarettes, like the popular pods sold by Juul.

The US will continue to allow menthol and tobacco flavours, as well as fruit flavours delivered in other ways.

The action has been under consideration for more than a year, with several states passing similar rules.

South Korea, India, Brazil are among the dozens of countries that have announced sweeping vaping bans. Others, like China, have announced restrictions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Trump administration wanted to continue to offer adults an alternative to traditional cigarettes, while responding to concerns about growing addiction to a new product among teens.

"By prioritizing enforcement against the products that are most widely used by children, our action today seeks to strike the right public health balance," he said.

Fifty-five people have died and more than 2,500 people have been hospitalised with injuries linked to vaping, US health regulators say.

Investigators have said they believe vitamin E acetate, which is sometimes added to marijuana vaping products, is playing a role.

Citing the crisis, President Trump said in September the US would ban all e-cigarette flavours except tobacco, but the administration loosened its position after pushback from the industry.

"We have to protect our families. At the same time, it's a big industry. We want to protect the industry," Mr Trump said this week.

Juul, the biggest e-cigarette company in the US, had already pulled its flavoured pods from the market, but Thursday's action forces competitors to make a similar move, within 30 days.

Advocates for stricter rules have said that teens will switch to menthol if other options are eliminated.

But officials said they would take steps against menthol and tobacco flavoured e-cigarettes if the Food and Drug Administration sees that their use among teens is rising.

The US also recently raised the age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. E-cigarettes are also governed by those rules.

Governor of the central bank, Byadran Lkhagvasuren, said that "In 2019, the Bank of Mongolia has successfully implemented measures to ensure economic stability".

Adding that "As a result, our country's forex reserves exceeded 4.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of the year, hitting an all-time high".

The central bank of the country said that the forex reserves of Mongolia increased about 20 percent in the earlier year of 2019 from USD3.5 billion by the end of 2018.

In exchange, Islamabad has provided greater market access to Chinese raw materials and heavy machinery.

The deal, inked in April 2019, will increase Islamabad’s exports to China by between $500 million and $600 million in the short-term, according to an official from Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry. The figure is expected to rise to $4 billion over the next five years.

“2019 has been a great year for Mongolia as it has achieved progress in many sectors. Particularly, the gross domestic product grew around 7.3 percent year on year in 2019, compared to 1.2 percent in 2016. And the number of livestock animals in the country exceeded 70 million in 2019 for the first time in history,” he said.

Previously, the Asian Development Bank forecasted that Mongolia’s GDP would grow by 6.7 percent in 2019.

According to the latest statistics, one Mongolian household spends an average of MNT 297,590 (about USD 109) on food per month. When the New Year celebration approaches, the spending per household on food increased to MNT 340,456 (USD 125).

Sales of some food products such as cakes, champagne and tangerines surged dramatically in December.

As the New Year is one of the most important holidays for nomadic Mongolians, they believe that plenty of food and drinks symbolize a prosperous life in the coming year.