Oil prices edged higher in Asia Wednesday as investors await the latest U.S. supply report for clues about demand in the world's biggest crude consumer. 

The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July, gained 14 cents to $102.80 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude for July was up seven cents to stand at $108.89 in afternoon trade. 

China's manufacturing activity improved in May but the world's second-largest economy faces headwinds, particularly in the property sector, HSBC said Tuesday.

The HSBC final purchasing managers' index (PMI), which tracks activity in the nation's factories and workshops, came in at 49.4 in May, lower than a preliminary reading of 49.7, the British-based banking giant said in a statement.

Inflation in the eurozone sagged to an annual rate of 0.5 percent in May, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to take action to support a weak recovery and ward off the danger of a drop in consumer prices.

The figure released Tuesday by the European Union's statistics agency fell from 0.7 percent in April and was short of market analysts' forecasts for 0.6 percent. The overall figure was dragged down by an unexpectedly low 0.9 percent rate in Germany, the biggest of the 18 countries that use the euro.

Australia's central bank on Tuesday left interest rates on hold at a record low 2.5 percent as it sounded a cautiously optimistic note on the economy's transition away from mining-led growth.

The Reserve Bank continued to flag a period of unchanged rates in a statement that balanced a more positive outlook for the labour market and for firms' spending plans with a warning that a sharp fall-off in mining investment was still to come.

India's hawkish central bank kept key interest rates unchanged Tuesday at its first meeting to set monetary policy since new pro-growth Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office.

After meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, would remain steady at 8.0 percent.

Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, it set to slow in May, data showed on Monday, turning up the pressure on the European Central Bank to act and avert deflation, analysts said.

According to closely watched state regional data published so far, German inflation looks set to have slowed in May from the 1.3 percent recorded in April.

The International Air Transport Association said on Monday that it expects airline companies to record combined net profits of $18 billion this year.

Revenues were forecast to reach $746 billion, IATA director general Tony Tyler said in Doha, pointing out that net margins stood to average 2.4 percent only. 

Crisis-hit Ukraine won a vital reprieve from Russia on Monday when Moscow pushed back a possible cut in gas shipments, which would also impact parts of Europe, until next week.

Russia's surprise decision came hours before the two sides were to lock horns in Brussels over a price dispute that emerged when Moscow cancelled the discounts it awarded the pro-Kremlin regime which was ousted in February street protests.

If you want to predict goals, follow the money, say German economists who have used footballers' value to predict a Spain-Germany World Cup final.

Researchers from the DIW Institute in Berlin based their model on the market value of each team, using the transfer fees of the players. 

The euro rebounded from three-month lows against the dollar Friday but remained relatively weak ahead of next week's key meeting of the European Central Bank.

The euro pushed to $1.3630 from the $1.36 line Thursday, but still remained far below its recent peak over $1.39.