Bloomberg terminals used by subscribers to make trades using real-time developments in business and finance were struck by a "global network problem" for several hours Friday, the company's technical department said.

After users in financial centres around the world flocked to Twitter to complain of the unexpected outage of terminals, Bloomberg technicians began repair operations that started bringing some blanked terminals back on line at around 0945 GMT.

Oil prices fell in Asia Friday as investors locked in profits following a six-day rally, with a rise in OPEC's output in March also adding to downward pressure, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery dipped 52 cents to $56.19 and Brent crude for June eased 51 cents to $63.47 in afternoon trade.

Top European officials and Greece's finance minister were on Thursday forced to play down fears that the country was poised to exit the eurozone, after the IMF rejected suggestions that Athens would postpone loan repayments.

But the perilous state of Greece's government finances was laid bare when the prime minister confirmed he had been reduced to seeking funding support from the wealthy Greek Orthodox Church.

The emerging economies of the G-24 group sharply criticized the United States on Thursday for holding up what they see as critical reforms of the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the group said the failure after five years of the U.S. Congress to ratify the reforms was undermining the effectiveness and legitimacy of the global crisis lender.

Falling oil prices have slowed the phenomenal expansion of Canada's oil sands extraction trade but the industry remains optimistic it is only a temporary setback.

The price of oil fell $60 from June 2014 to January 2015, resulting in a massive budget deficit for the Canadian province of Alberta which will receive Can$7 billion (U.S.$5.7 billion) less in energy royalties this year, forcing the local government to hike taxes and cut services for the first time in a generation.

Saudi Arabia has told Kuwait it wants to halt production from a jointly operated oilfield in the neutral zone between the two countries, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Wafra field, which currently produces around 200,000 barrels per day, is the largest onshore field in the 5,000-square-kilometer neutral zone which the Gulf neighbors exploit jointly under a nearly 50-year-old treaty.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the worst was over for Russia's crisis-hit economy, pointing to the recent rebound of the ruble despite Western sanctions over Ukraine.

"The ruble has stabilized and strengthened," Putin said during his annual phone-in with Russians. "Experts believe that we have passed the peak of the problems."

Foreign direct investment into China picked up in March, official figures showed Thursday, though outbound investment from the world's second-largest economy slowed sharply.

FDI rose 2.2 percent year-on-year last month to $12.4 billion, the commerce ministry said, an acceleration from February's 0.9 percent gain.

The dollar faced selling pressure Thursday as a batch of weak U.S. data raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve will push back an interest rate hike beyond mid-year.

In Tokyo, the greenback briefly slipped below the 119 yen level before recovering to 119.33 yen in afternoon trade, against 119.14 yen in New York. It was above 120 yen earlier this week.

A sluggish global economy, the Greek debt crisis and continuing fallout of the Ebola epidemic will take focus beginning Thursday when top finance officials gather for the World Bank and IMF Spring meetings.

With high unemployment festering in advanced economies, and emerging countries entering their fifth straight year of slowing growth, how to fire up output and demand is the primary order of business for the world's central bankers and finance ministers in Washington.