China's central bank on Thursday set its central rate for the yuan currency at a four-year low against the U.S. dollar, a move analysts said reflected reduced expectations for the unit following a devaluation.

The yuan was fixed at 6.4085 to the greenback, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, just 0.07 percent weaker from the previous day. But it was the lowest since August 2011, the Shanghai Securities News said on its website.

Oil rose in Asia Thursday as dealers digested a mixed U.S. energy report showing a dip in crude inventories, but barely any decline in production despite sinking prices.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery gained 87 cents to $39.47 while Brent crude for October rose $1.01 to $44.15 in afternoon trade.

European markets joined Asia on a roller-coaster session Wednesday, as China's interest rate cut showed no sign of ending a crisis fuelled by fears over stalling growth in the world's number-two economy.

Frazzled investors sent Europe's top indexes falling by more than one percent in late morning trade after a choppy session on Asian bourses, and analysts predicted more turbulence ahead.

Oil prices dipped on Wednesday, trading near six-year lows ahead of the latest U.S. energy report after jitters over China's faltering economy spurred heavy losses this week, analysts said. 

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell 13 cents to $39.18 in Asian trading, while Brent crude for October eased 13 cents to $43.08 in late-morning trade. 

China and Japan are locked in an increasingly heated contest to build Indonesia's first high-speed railway, with the Asian giants sweetening deals and turning up the charm as time runs out to woo Jakarta.

The rivalry over this major project is just the latest to flare up as China challenges Japan's long-standing dominance in Southeast Asia as a key source of infrastructure funding.

Ukraine and its biggest lenders appeared to be making cautious but steady progress Tuesday toward a debt restructuring deal that would save the war-torn country from hurtling into default.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a group of commercial creditors holding nearly half of the $19 billion (16.5 billion euros) in debt under negotiation have offered to take a 20 percent write-down on the face value of their bonds.

German economic growth picked up in the second quarter of 2015, and the public finances of Europe's economic powerhouse were firmly in the black in the first half, data showed on Tuesday.

German gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4 percent in the period from April to June, up from 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the federal statistics office Destatis said, confirming a flash estimate released earlier this month.

A roller-coaster ride on global markets, which saw some bourses record their largest one-week losses since 2008 as they took fright at a Chinese sell-off, have raised fresh worries over the strength of the global economy.

And while analysts said fears of a repeat of the financial crises of 1997 or 2008 were largely unfounded -- mainly because of reforms undertaken since -- they warned that continued turbulence emerging from China would take a toll on global economic growth, especially in emerging economies.

Former Chinese vice finance minister Jin Liqun has been elected to head the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Chinese government said Tuesday. 

Jin was elected as the bank's "incoming president" at a two-day meeting of chief negotiators in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, according to a statement by China's finance ministry. 

The vast majority of business economists expect the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before the end of the year, according to a survey released Monday.

Minutes from the Fed's meeting in late July showed that officials could raise rates as early as September. Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents believe the Fed will raise rates from their current near-zero levels, but only 37 percent of respondents believe it will happen as soon as next month.