Oil extended losses in Asia Thursday on prospects that Libya will begin exporting more crude into a global market flush with supplies, while easing concerns about the Iraqi crisis also weighed on prices. 

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery eased 47 cents to $104.01 while Brent crude for August was down 33 cents at $110.91 in late-morning trade. 

Chinese banks can now set their own exchange rates between the yuan and the U.S. dollar for some customers, the government said, in a small step towards liberalization of the tightly controlled currency.

Banks can decide the "spread" -- the range between the buying and selling price -- for customers based on market demand, according to a central bank statement posted on the website of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange late Wednesday.

Oil prices edged higher in Asia Wednesday as dealers await the release of a U.S. stockpiles report for clues about demand in the world's top crude consumer, while upbeat Chinese manufacturing data lent support.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose 10 cents to $105.44 while Brent crude gained nine cents to $112.38 in afternoon trade. 

ExxonMobil is to invest one billion dollars in an existing refinery in Antwerp, Belgium it said on Wednesday, despite adverse market conditions and falling demand for energy in Europe.

The U.S. energy giant said it intends to instal a new unit at the site which will convert heavy crude into diesel and marine fuel, a market it believes will grow in the long term.

Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said Wednesday it was buying Seragon Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. biotechnology firm specializing in a new way to fight breast cancer, in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion (1.2 billion euros).

Seragon, a privately held outfit located in California, is developing a new generation of treatments for the most common form of breast cancer, Roche said in a statement.

Google on Tuesday said that it has bought Songza, a free online streaming music service that recommends tunes based on what people might be in the mood to hear.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but unconfirmed online reports valued the deal at around $15 million.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said U.S. pressure on French banks was "blackmail" linked to Paris' controversial decision to press ahead with a sensitive deal to supply Moscow with warships.

"This does not concern us directly but what they are doing to French banks right now -- this causes nothing but indignation in Europe and here," Putin told ambassadors in a key foreign policy speech.

Nearly a quarter of a million members of South Africa's largest union downed tools on Tuesday, beginning an indefinite strike that threatens to bring the engineering sector to a halt.

Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa marched in cities across the country, demanding a minimum 10 percent pay increase and a better housing allowance that the industry says is unaffordable.

Samsung said Tuesday an external audit found labor violations at dozens of its suppliers in China including failure to provide safety gear and excessive working hours.

Samsung Electronics Co. released the findings covering 100 of the company's Chinese suppliers in its annual social responsibility report. It has at least 200 suppliers in China.

The ignition switch recalls now engulfing General Motors and Chrysler are raising new questions about the safety of the parts across the American auto industry.

GM's safety crisis deepened dramatically Monday when the automaker added 8.2 million vehicles in North America to its ballooning list of cars recalled over faulty ignition switches. GM has now issued five recalls for 17.1 million cars with defective switches, spanning every model year since 1997.