Brent hovered near $55 a barrel on Thursday after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles set a record for the fifth week in a row, renewing fears that supply is still far outpacing demand.
Commodity price-dependent currencies such as the Australian dollar and Norwegian crown were the main movers on major foreign exchange markets on Tuesday, gaining up to a third of a percent on talk of more economic stimulus in China.
Japan's Canon Inc said it plans to buy security camera maker Axis AB for about 23.6 billion Swedish crowns ($2.83 billion) to expand into the surveillance products market amid weak sales of its cameras.
Group of 20 finance officials look likely to reject a proposal to set countries specific investment targets to spur a global economy which appears increasingly reliant on the United States for growth.
Cross-border lending is growing in the euro zone for the first time since the bloc's financial crisis prompted banks to retreat from highly indebted countries such as Spain, Greece, Ireland and Italy.
German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said on Friday sales jumped 14 percent in January to a record 125,865 models, powered by double-digit gains in Europe, China and the United States.
Crude oil traded $2 higher before paring gains on Friday, on track for a second weekly increase, as chaos in Libya and stronger economic signals from the United States helped futures rebound from near-six-year lows.
European stocks dipped on Friday, with regional indexes pausing just below recent multi-year highs as investors looked to the January U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later in the session.
Germany wants Greece's new left-wing government to go back on anti-austerity promises made in its first days in office and revert to economic policies its predecessors' agreed with international lenders, a document showed on Wednesday.
Eastern Canada has joined a race to export North America's vast natural gas riches to energy-hungry markets overseas, with four projects betting the far-flung Atlantic provinces will be the easiest route to Europe and India.
Toyota Motor Corp lifted its operating profit guidance on Wednesday in a widely expected move, as a weaker yen increases the value of sales overseas and makes up for slumping demand at home.
A panel of experts appointed by Google to advise it on a European court ruling ordering it to remove some personal information from search results is leaning toward limiting the application to European websites only.
New orders for U.S. factory goods fell for a fifth straight month in December, but a smaller-than-previously reported drop in business spending plans supported views of a rebound in the months ahead.
European shares stalled and core bond yields held near lows on Monday following disappointing data from China, while Greek markets were volatile as the government pursued efforts to reach a compromise with its creditors.
The finance chief of Ford Motor Co (F.N) expects ongoing problems in Russia where the decline of the rouble and the struggling economy was weighing on its market share, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.