Oil prices drifted lower on Friday after a rally the day before, as geopolitical tensions and disruptions in U.S. oil production from a cold blast were countered by concerns over slow demand growth in China. Brent crude futures fell 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.93 a barrel by 0151 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) slid 3 cents to $74.05.

GIFT Nifty traded up by 92 points or 0.43% at 21,563.50 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Friday. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region are trading in positive territory on Friday morning. The Asia Dow is trading up by 0.68%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is green, up by 1.34%.

British luxury carmaker Bentley on Friday reported an 11% drop in vehicle sales for 2023 as high-end consumers felt the pinch of rising costs and slowing economies, with sales down in its top three markets - Europe, the Americas and China.

The dollar headed for a second weekly gain in a row on Friday on signs of resilience in the U.S. economy and caution about rate cuts from central bankers.Weekly gains on the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars of 1.7% and 2.1% are set to be the largest since November and June respectively.

Google will invest $1 billion on building a data centre just outside of London, the U.S. technology giant said on Thursday, in its latest investment in Britain as it meets growing demand for internet services in the region. The data centre, located on a 33-acre (13-hectare) site bought by Google in 2020, will be located in the town of Waltham Cross, about 15 miles north of central London.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday that the company was bringing its AI research team "closer together" with a more business-focused generative AI team launched last year, doubling down on a push to get the technology into products. The social media giant was building out its infrastructure to accommodate the push and planned to have about 350,000 H100 GPUs.

The Indian economy is poised to sustain its momentum in 2024 while the slow revival of the rural economy and moderated the growth in private consumption highlighted the need for bringing down inflation to its target of 4% to make the growth an inclusive one, the Reserve Bank of India said in its state of the economy report.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have to reveal the ultimate identities of every holder of overseas derivative instruments (ODIs) once such funds breach the exposure levels specified by the regulator. The Indian capital market regulator has spelt this out in a communique this week to the custodians of FPIs, a person aware of the matter told ET.

Indian lenders want the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease banking system liquidity conditions as overnight cash rates have exceeded the key policy rate for over five months, according to treasury officials, whose suggestions will be shared with the RBI before a policy meeting next month. With inflation expected to ease going ahead, lenders are hopeful the central bank will loosen liquidity.

Brazil should end 2024 with a primary deficit of 55.3 billion reais ($11.2 billion), the federal audit court (TCU) said, in the latest sign of skepticism that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government can meet its pledge to eliminate the fiscal deficit.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, as AI optimism drove gains in Nvidia and other chip stocks, while doubts about interest rate cuts hit utilities and real-estate shares. U.S.-listed shares of TSMC soared after the world's largest contract semiconductor maker projected 2024 revenue growth of more than 20% on booming demand for high-end chips used in artificial-intelligence applications.

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open flat on January 19 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a muted start for the broader index with a gain of 7 points. The equity benchmarks ended lower for the third straight day on January 18 despite a mid-session pull-back with bank and IT stocks coming under selling pressure amid weak global cues.

Global passive funds are putting added strain on the world’s worst-performing stock market as they join actively-managed peers in the January selloff of Chinese and Hong Kong equities.

📌Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to subscribe for a 14% equity share in Huoban Energy 11. 📌Hindustan Unilever has entered into transaction documents for the acquisition of a 27.73% stake in the SPV Transition Sustainable Energy Services One. 📌TCS will trade ex-date for a dividend with effect from January 19.

(Reuters) - Target said on Thursday its finance chief Michael Fiddelke was stepping down from the role and has been named chief operating officer, effective Feb. 4.Until his replacement is named, Fiddelke will continue to serve as the company's CFO, it added.Fiddelke, who has been Target's finance chief since November 2019, replaces John Mulligan, who announced his plans to retire in October.