A U.S. judge ordered Argentina on Friday to pay $5.2 billion to some 500 creditors seeking repayment on the same favorable terms given to other holders of the South American country's restructured debt.

In a 26-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Griesa ruled that by refusing to make payment to some hedge fund and individual bondholders of its defaulted debt, while making payment to other creditors, Buenos Aires was in violation of an equal treatment provision in its contracts. 

The OPEC oil producers' cartel has decided to keep the "same" output target of 30 million barrels per day, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Friday.

"The ceiling is the same. You will be surprised how amicable the meeting was," Naimi told reporters after the gathering of the 12-nation cartel that pumps one third of the world's oil.

The German central bank, or Bundesbank, upgraded Friday its growth forecasts for this year and next year, saying activity in Europe's biggest economy was being supported by both domestic and foreign demand.

The Bundesbank said in a statement it was expecting gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 1.7 percent in 2015, by 1.8 percent in 2016 and 1.5 percent in 2017. 

The euro lost ground Friday on uncertainty about Greece's future in the eurozone as it struck a last-minute deal to delay a debt repayment, but still faced several stumbling blocks to reaching a bailout reform agreement.

In Tokyo trading, the single currency weakened to $1.1220 and 139.63 yen from $1.1239 and 139.79 yen in New York.

Oil prices rose in Asia Friday but gains were capped before a key meeting of the OPEC cartel, which is expected to maintain its current production levels despite an oversupplied global market. 

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery edged up two cents to $58.02 while Brent crude for July gained eight cents to $62.11 in afternoon trade. 

Greece bought time in debt crisis negotiations with official creditors Thursday when it moved to bundle four looming IMF loan payments into one, to be paid by the end of June.

The rare move, permitted by the International Monetary Fund only once before, allowed Athens to avoid a Friday deadline to remit about 300 million euros ($340 million) to the crisis lender, as it weighs the newest proposal from its IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank creditors.

Under the patronage of Minister of Economy and Trade, Alain Hakim, “Project Lebanon 2015”, the 20th International Trade Exhibition for Construction Materials and Equipment for Lebanon and the Middle East, opened its doors on Tuesday at BIEL, in the presence of the ambassadors of the participating countries and a number of officials, diplomats and dignitaries.

Clearly indicating the rising interest paid by international companies and businessmen to Project Lebanon as an effective tool to strengthen their presence in the Lebanese and regional markets, more than 400 exhibitors participate in this year’s edition; including 150 international companies representing 24 countries including Italy, France, Belgium, Turkey, Egypt, Romania, Cyprus, Iran, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Malaysia, Slovakia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, China, India, Kuwait, Lebanon and Brazil.

France's central bank Thursday said French growth would accelerate over the next two years, in its first-ever annual projections for the eurozone' second largest economy. 

The economy was seen growing at 1.2 percent this year, rising to 1.8 percent in 2016 and 1.9 percent in 2017.

Hundreds of containers lie idle in the scorching sun that pounds Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar, a free trade zone crippled by decades of international sanctions.

But against the backdrop of nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers, authorities hope foreign investors will finally wise up to the "golden opportunity" of doing business in Chabahar, Iran's only gateway to the Indian Ocean.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA announced Wednesday that it would expand its online sales service to include home deliveries in all countries where it has stores.

Most of the company's national Internet sites currently only allow shoppers to check availability of items online, without offering deliveries, with the exception of some long-standing markets including Sweden, France and Canada.