Cheap oil prices ushered in by Saudi Arabia's policy of protecting its market share will end up squeezing high-cost producers like U.S. shale drillers, leading next year to the biggest drop in output in nearly a quarter century, the IEA said Friday.

Cheap fuel is also hooking consumers, with oil demand growth set to hit a five-year high this year, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report.

Standard & Poor's cut Brazil's sovereign credit rating to junk Wednesday, citing the struggle by President Dilma Rousseff's government to master growing debt and political turmoil.

"We are lowering the long-term foreign and local currency ratings on Brazil to 'BB+' and 'BBB-' respectively," the agency said in a statement.

Oil prices eased in Asia Thursday as dealers focused on an upcoming U.S. energy report for clues about production and demand in the world's top crude consumer amid abundant global supplies.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell 65 cents to $43.50 while Brent crude for October dropped 76 cents to $46.82 in late-morning trade.

Although many companies are pouring money into social media to market their goods, the recommendations of friends and family remain the top driver of purchasing decisions, a study released Thursday found.

"Direct word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family are by far the most important source of information for customers thinking about buying a product or service," said a study by Boston Consulting Group.

China is tightening capital controls following a devaluation of its yuan currency, the Financial Times reported, as worries about fund outflows rise.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange had ordered financial institutions to increase checks and boost controls on foreign exchange transactions, especially over-invoicing of exports which is used to hide capital outflows, the newspaper on Wednesday quoted unnamed sources and an internal memo as saying.

Microsoft said Tuesday it bought an Israel-based cybersecurity startup specializing in defending programs and content in the cloud, as it expands offerings for the enterprise.

Microsoft did not disclose how much it paid for Adallom, but the website TechCrunch put the purchase price at $250 million.

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Wednesday ramped up its full-year net profit forecast by a quarter on keen demand for summer holidays at higher prices.

Earnings after taxation will climb to between 1.175 billion euros and 1.225 billion euros ($1.8 billion and $1.88 billion) in the current financial year to March 2016, Ryanair predicted in a trading statement.

Greece will set up a working group with officials from its "troika" of creditors to look at ways of supporting its fragile banking system after this month's election, the economy ministry said Tuesday.

Greeks will go to the polls for their fifth time in six years on September 20, as the government seeks a fresh mandate to implement reforms demanded under the new 86-billion-euro ($96-billion) international bailout.

The 19-nation eurozone grew by 0.4 percent in the second quarter, official data showed on Tuesday, revising upward a first estimate that sparked worries about the health of the European economy.

Last month, the EU's Eurostat agency said the eurozone grew by just 0.3 percent in the April to June period.

China plans to halt all trading on its stock markets if they move five percent or more, according to a statement from the country's two exchanges, as authorities seek to control a rout.

If the CSI 300 index of 300 major listed companies rises or falls five percent, authorities will suspend trading on both the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges for 30 minutes, the bourses' statement said.