The European Central Bank will introduce quantitative easing next week but in a manner that shares risks among all eurozone nations, following concerns from Germany, the Financial Times reported Saturday.

The ECB holds its first policy meeting of the year on Thursday and is widely expected to announce some sort of program of sovereign bond purchases -- or QE -- to try to kick-start the eurozone's sluggish economy.

Voters gathered around a smartly-dressed candidate from Greece's anti-austerity party Syriza in an affluent Athens suburb asking the question everybody wants answered: Will the country go bust?

But then the Syriza candidate quickly had to field what's proving another tricky question for his party ahead of next week's elections: Do they have a united plan?

Chinese overseas investment surged past $100 billion for the first time last year, official figures showed Friday, but remained below investment into the country.

Overseas direct investment (ODI) rose 14.1 percent to $102.9 billion in 2014, vice commerce minister Zhong Shan said at a briefing, as Chinese firms continued to buy up assets, particularly energy and resources, to power the world's number two economy.

The euro sank almost two percent against the Swiss franc Friday and Asian markets tumbled as traders were left stunned by Switzerland's shock decision to remove its currency cap against the euro.

Oil edged up slightly, meanwhile, after plunging Thursday in reaction to OPEC's announcement that it produced more than its limit of the black gold in December, despite weak demand, low prices and a supply glut.

Oil prices rebounded in Asia Friday after plunging in the previous session in reaction to news that OPEC had overproduced in December, while it also cut its global demand outlook.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February, which dived $2.23 Thursday, was up 22 cents at $46.47.

A New Zealand foreign exchange broker announced it was closing Friday after suffering "a total loss of operating capital" in the wake of Switzerland's shock move to scrap its currency cap.

Global Brokers NZ said the Swiss move resulted in "rare volatility and illiquidity" in the markets.

Bank of America on Thursday reported a dip in quarterly profits following losses in its real estate and trading divisions despite lower expenses.

BofA's earnings for the fourth quarter came in at $3.1 billion, down 11.3 percent from the year-ago level.

The world economy, hobbled by aging populations, will slow dramatically over the next 50 years unless countries find ways to increase productivity.

That's according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute. It says that without big gains in output per worker, global growth will slow to around 2 percent a year over the next half century from an average 3.6 percent the past 50 years.

Developing offshore wind technology in the Atlantic Ocean would produce twice the energy and job growth as drilling for oil would, an environmental group said Wednesday.

The analysis by Oceana was released ahead of the U.S. government's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's five-year plan for oil and gas leasing, which could involve seismic testing for potential reserves in the Atlantic.

The world's newest jetliner, the Airbus A350, took to the skies Thursday carrying its first paying passengers from the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar.

The Qatar Airways flight departed the Qatari capital Doha bound for Frankfurt, Germany. It marks the debut of the relatively lightweight, twin-aisle, long-range plane, which promises to connect smaller cities with major aviation hubs nonstop at a cheaper cost for airlines.