Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Friday his government will sell oil and other commodities in currencies other than the dollar, in a bid to weather US-imposed sanctions on the embattled country.

Swiss commodities trader Glencore said Friday it is selling a major part of a stake it only recently acquired in Russian oil giant Rosneft to Chinese conglomerate CEFC. 

EU finance ministers are set to discuss changing rules so that tech giants such as Google or Facebook are on the hook to pay more taxes in Europe, according to an EU document seen by AFP on Friday.

German imports outpaced exports in July, slightly narrowing the country's massive and oft-criticised trade surplus, provisional data showed Friday.

Exports from Europe's economic powerhouse were up 0.2 percent compared with June while imports rose by 2.2 percent, federal statistics office Destatis said, as both figures rebounded from last month's dips.

The US central bank can continue to raise interest rates gradually, despite persistent low inflation that could suggest a fundamental change in the economy, a top Federal Reserve official said Thursday.

The U.S. Senate passed a $15.25 billion relief package Thursday for victims of Hurricane Harvey, in an effort to fully fund federal emergency operations as another potentially catastrophic storm bears down on Florida.

The package passed 80 to 17 one day after President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced a shock deal that includes the hurricane relief, as well as temporarily lifting of the US debt ceiling and funding of the federal government.

Brazil's central bank slashed its key interest rate on Wednesday by a percentage point to 8.25 percent, the eighth consecutive cut as the country slowly exits a painful recession.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator said Thursday he is ready to step up the pace of talks with Britain as he voiced concern about progress and London's proposal for the border with Ireland.

Finnish telecoms giant Nokia said Thursday it planned to cut around 600 jobs in France as it seeks to make cost-savings and refocus its loss-making businesses.

Europe's main stock markets climbed at the start of trading on Thursday awaiting the ECB's regular policy meeting.