Oil prices built on recent gains on Friday on fears any U.S. military attack on Iran would disrupt flows from the Middle East, while a gauge of global stock markets hovered near seven-week highs following a run spurred by optimism over monetary policy.
Wall Street edged lower on Friday, as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's decision to defer a speech on China policy increased optimism on upcoming trade talks between Washington and Beijing, while tensions between the United States and Iran undercut sentiment.
World stocks fell on Friday, as worries about a threatened U.S. military strike against Iran and a global trade conflict took the edge off a central bank-induced rally from earlier in the week.
Some global airlines are re-routing flights to avoid Iran-controlled airspace over the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, they said on Friday, after the U.S. aviation regulator barred its carriers from the area until further notice.
Huawei Technologies said on Friday it has shipped 100 million smartphones this year as of May 30.
Air France-KLM's Dutch subsidiary KLM is avoiding flying over parts of Iran as a precautionary measure, a spokesman said on Friday, confirming a report by the Netherlands' state broadcaster NOS.
Oil prices reversed earlier gains on Friday but benchmark Brent crude was still set for its first weekly gain in five weeks amid rising tensions in the Middle East and on hopes for a drop in U.S. interest rates that may stimulate global growth.
Asian stocks slipped on Friday, as U.S.-Iran tensions and anxieties over Sino-U.S. trade talks left markets in the region struggling to match the euphoria on Wall Street over a possible U.S. interest rate cut next month.
A China-owned special economic zone in Cambodia has denied that its firms have been fined by the United States for transhipping goods from China in a bid to dodge U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports.
A historic visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping this week may have bolstered Kim Jong Un's hopes that economic relief may be coming soon, but a new report reveals North Korea's road to international investment may be blocked by more than sanctions.
The new chairman of Foxconn said on Friday the Apple Inc supplier had no plan to increase production capacity outside China at the moment.
Malaysia is looking to recover about $5 billion worth of foreign assets linked to state fund 1MDB, which is the subject of money laundering investigations, an anti-graft official said on Friday.
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said on Friday he will hand over the running of the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer to a new operations committee as he prepares to contest Taiwan's presidential elections next year.
Oil prices rose on Friday, with Brent crude heading for its first weekly gain in five weeks on tensions in the Middle East after Iran shot down a U.S. military drone and on hopes for a drop in U.S. interest rates that may stimulate global growth.
Asian stocks struggled on Friday to track Wall Street's exuberance about a possible U.S. rate cut next month as anxiety over Sino-U.S. trade negotiations clouded the investor mood in the region.