Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda are considering a comprehensive tie-up in environmentally-friendly technology amid tightening regulations to cut greenhouse gas and tough emerging market competition, a report said Saturday.

The two companies are in the final stages of talks on the planned partnership, the Nikkei business daily said, adding that the two "intend to reach an accord in principle soon".

London's stock market rallied and the pound surged on Friday as Prime Minister David Cameron's "business friendly" Conservatives looked set for a surprise victory in Britain's general election.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index jumped 1.63 percent to 6,999.01 points in early trade, lifted by soaring share price gains for banks and energy majors.

Tokyo investors will be looking to Japanese trade data and U.S. retail sales next week, while bracing for any signs of a U.S. interest rate hike following a warning from Fed boss Janet Yellen on high equity valuations.

Japan's finance ministry is scheduled to release its March trade balance on Wednesday, while U.S. retail sales in April will be announced later in the day.

Germany's industrial output and its trade surplus were both hit by surprise falls in March, according to provisional figures published Friday by the federal statistics office, Destatis.

The slight fall of 0.5 percent in production after seasonal adjustments was counter to analyst expectations, which had predicted a modest rise of 0.4 per cent, said financial data firm Factset. 

Australia's central bank Friday said lower growth and higher unemployment concerns prompted it to cut official interest rates to a historic low of 2.0 percent this week in an bid to spur the economy.

Ahead of the conservative government releasing its national budget on Tuesday 12 May, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said a long-awaited pick-up in non-mining investment, which is holding back the economy, would likely take longer than anticipated.

Dubai's Emirates Airline said Thursday annual profits surged 40 percent to $1.2 billion as revenues increased and fuel costs dropped.

The Middle East's largest carrier said revenues rose seven percent to $24.2 billion with passenger numbers up 11 percent to 49.3 million in the financial year 2014-15.

Commerzbank, Germany's second biggest lender, said Thursday it planned to pay a dividend for 2015 for the first time since 2008 after business developed favorably in the first three months.

"We have made a successful start into 2015. We are performing well in all the operating segments and ... have considerably improved the revenues," said chief executive Martin Blessing.

National Australia Bank Thursday announced the country's biggest ever rights issue to raise Aus$5.5 billion (U.S.$4.4 billion) while detailing plans to demerge its British banking business.

The country's fourth biggest lender outlined its proposals as it posted a net profit of Aus$3.44 billion in the six months to March 31, a 20.4 percent jump from the previous year.

German engineering giant Siemens said on Thursday that it would slash an additional 4,500 jobs worldwide, on top of 7,800 cuts announced in February as part of an ongoing restructuring plan.

Some 2,200 of the latest job cuts will be in Germany, said the Munich-based firm that employs more than 300,000 people in all.

Following a solid start to the year, signs emerged Wednesday that the 19-country eurozone economy is losing some traction.

While a closely-watched survey indicated that economic activity grew at a steady pace in April, a separate report pointed to a sharp drop in retail sales in March.