Asian stock markets were generally weaker with U.S. crude in holiday-thinned trading on Monday, as uncertainty over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant weighed on investor sentiment.

U.S. retail sales rose 8.5% during this year's holiday shopping season from Nov. 1 to Dec 24, a report by Mastercard Inc said on Sunday, powered by a rush to stores amid supply chain concerns as COVID-19 cases surge as well as soaring ecommerce sales.

Oil prices were mixed on Monday, with Brent edging up while U.S. crude futures slipped after airlines called off thousands of flights in the United States over Christmas holidays amid surging COVID-19 infections.

China Evergrande Group said on Sunday it had made initial progress in resuming construction work with its chairman vowing to deliver 39,000 units of properties in December, compared with fewer than 10,000 in each of the previous three months.

(Reuters) -U.S. retail sales rose 8.5% during this year's holiday shopping season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, powered by soaring ecommerce sales, a report by Mastercard Inc said on Sunday.

The world's economic output will exceed $100 trillion for the first time next year and it will take China a little longer than previously thought to overtake the United States as the No.1 economy, a report showed on Sunday.