A year of high-profile sports sponsorship has so far paid off for Adidas, with sales at its core brand up 25 percent thanks to events including the Euro 2016 football tournament.

Oil prices diverged in Asia on Thursday following a mixed US stockpiles report while analysts warned of further losses as the global supply glut shows no sign of easing.

The Department of Energy said Wednesday that commercial US crude supplies rose 0.3 percent last week, but gasoline inventories and domestic crude production dipped.

Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines has completed a $450-million purchase of nearly a quarter stake in Brazil's third largest airline Azul, according to a statement issued Thursday, as its parent HNA embarks on an overseas investment binge.

Activity in Britain's crucial services sector sank in July following the vote to leave the EU, a survey by the research Markit group showed Wednesday, making a recession more likely.

Nigeria has resumed the payment of allowances to former Niger delta rebels under an amnesty scheme, a spokesman said Wednesday, after low global crude prices plunged the oil-rich country into a financial crisis.

"The payment of allowances is ongoing. Before now, there were some logistics issues, which we have addressed," program spokesman Owei Lakemfa told AFP.

A major Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended trading after $65 million in the virtual unit was reportedly stolen by hackers -- sending the digital currency plunging more than 20 percent.

Bitfinex said it had suspended all transactions after discovering that some users' Bitcoins had been taken.

Saudi Arabia has promised "urgent" action to resolve the plight of some 2,500 Indian workers stranded without money in the kingdom after a plunge in oil prices sparked construction layoffs.

Labor Minister Mufarrej al-Haqbani issued orders to allow the Indian workers "to immediately transfer their kafala (sponsorship) and renew their residencies," the Okaz daily reported on Wednesday.

HSBC said Wednesday net profit plunged in April-June and that the bank was heading into "a period of heightened uncertainty" after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Profit after tax sank 40 percent on-year to $2.61 billion, the firm said in a statement, but assured it had weathered the Brexit storm "securely".

Britain aims to tackle the economic divide between London and the rest of the UK, the government said on Tuesday as part of efforts to boost the economy.

Thousands of jobless Indians, Filipinos and Pakistanis are stranded and destitute in Saudi Arabia after the plunge in oil prices sparked construction layoffs, activists and officials said Tuesday.