Oil prices rebounded in Asia Monday on news that a labor strike at a U.S. refinery would end soon, tempering recent losses fueled by an agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 90 cents to $50.04 while Brent rose 69 cents to $55.64 in afternoon trade.

Sri Lanka's new government on Saturday announced a criminal investigation into the $2.3 billion purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft for the island's loss-making national carrier under the former government.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said an independent board of inquiry found gross violations of financial regulations and procurement procedures in state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines's deal, and said they warranted criminal prosecutions against former executives.

Japanese automaker Suzuki plans to invest tens of millions of dollars to build a second plant in Myanmar, seeking to make quick inroads in the country's growing market, a report said Saturday.

The small-car maker has already secured a roughly 20-hectare (50-acre) plot at the Thilawa special economic zone southeast of Yangon for the new plant, the Nikkei business daily said.

Greece will meet its financial obligations to the IMF and pay workers' salaries and pensions next week, a government source said Friday, easing speculation that Athens could default on its debts with unknowable consequences for global markets.

"Everything that should be paid next week, the IMF (International Monetary Fund), wages, pensions, will be," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Cyprus is to scrap its last remaining capital controls from April 6, two years after they were imposed in the heat of its banking crisis, President Nicos Anastasiades announced Friday.

In a televised news conference on the economy, Anastasiades said the last of the draconian measures -- imposed to avoid a run on banks -- would be lifted on Monday.

The Iranian nuclear deal, which heralds a lifting of sanctions choking the country's economy, could offer an unparalleled opportunity for foreign oil companies, but may take time to tap.

Thursday's deal "could represent a first step towards a return of Western oil companies" to Iran, said an analyst.

Japan's market direction next week will depend heavily on what comes out of the closely watched U.S. jobs report to be released later Friday, dealers said.

Traders were sitting tight before the release of the non-farm jobs reading that is expected to inform the outlook for the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.

France's economy, the second-largest in the eurozone, will perk up slightly in the first half of the year but unemployment is expected to stay at record highs, according to forecasts.

In estimates released late Thursday, the INSEE national statistics office said the economy would grow by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of the year and by 0.3 percent in the second.

Josh Smith, a 30-year-old blogger on finance, was in the midst of a career change in 2009 when he sought to refinance $8,000 in credit card debt.

"At the time, I was making the transition to freelance," he said. "When I asked the bank, they did not want to lend me the money because I was leaving a permanent position for freelance."

You can't miss it, rising off the main highway, a mountain of toxic soot towering over the flat, sunbaked scrubland of eastern Venezuela.

The buildup of petroleum byproduct known as coke isn't just an environmental hazard polluting the air of neighboring communities. It's a potent symbol of the waste and unfulfilled promise of an oil industry more vital than ever to Venezuela's economic health.