Iraq exported 2.42 million barrels of oil per day in June, the month of a jihadist offensive, the oil ministry said, falling far short of a budgeted projection of 3.4 million bpd.

Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said June exports generated revenue of $7.47 billion, or $600 million less than in May, despite higher oil prices.

Standard Chartered bank stood behind its top management on Thursday after a report pointed to a possible boardroom shake-up at the bank which is focused on emerging markets.

Finnish telecom equipment group Nokia jumped back into profit in the second quarter, it reported on Thursday, boosted by restructuring after it lost its leading position in handsets and sold its phone division to Microsoft.

The group reported a net profit for the quarter of 2.51 billion euros ($3.38 billion), from a loss of 226 million euros at the same time last year, and surprising the market with an unexpectedly rapid recovery based on network technology.

South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit slumped 6.9 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to a stronger won.

The April-June figure came to 2.35 trillion won (2.29 billion dollars), on sales of 22.75 trillion won, down 1.9 percent year-on-year.

Japan's trade deficit ballooned to a record in the first half of the year as exports fell further in June, data showed Thursday, ramping up pressure on the central bank to unveil fresh measures to boost the economy.

The figures come days after the government cut its fiscal year growth forecasts, blaming weak exports and a jump in imports as well as the negative impact of an April sales tax hike on consumer spending and business confidence.

Facebook shares on Wednesday soared to a new high on word that the social network's quarterly profit and user numbers jumped as it thrives in a world gone mobile.

Net income leaped to $791 million during the three months ended June 30 in a 138 percent increase from the $333 million made during the same period a year earlier, the world's biggest social network said.

Boeing has struck a deal with Iran Air to provide plane parts, the first time the U.S. firm will be doing business with Iran since the U.S. embargo of 1979.

The cancellation of European and U.S. flights to Israel due to rocket fire is further harming tourism in a region already paying for fierce fighting in Gaza, experts say.

But while the hospitality trade and small businesses are suffering, the broader Israeli economy is unlikely to be affected by the conflict with Hamas, in which more than 1,700 rockets and mortar shells fired from the Palestinian territory have so far hit southern and central Israel, they say.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that low-fare airline Ryanair must repay about 9.6 million euros in illegal state aid it received for its operations in several French regional airports.

The Commission, the European Union's executive arm, said Ryanair would have to repay 868,000 euros related to rebates and marketing arrangements negotiated at Angouleme airport in central France.

Russia has designated Sochi's Olympic site and the annexed Crimean peninsula as gambling areas on Wednesday, in a bid that casino revenues will boost their development.

Under the law signed by President Vladimir Putin casinos will be legal in some areas of the former Olympic park in Sochi, where Russia hosted the Winter Games in February.