Oil prices were mixed in cautious Asian trade Friday after the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at zero but warned about weaknesses in the global economy.

News that the US central bank would keep borrowing costs at zero was broadly welcomed across Asia, with most stock markets up, as it eased concerns about a feared flight of capital from the region's struggling economies.

A veteran executive with oil giant Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, has been confirmed as the company's president, the Dhahran-based firm said Thursday.

Nasser had been interim president and CEO since May when his predecessor, Khalid al-Falih, became health minister.

Kuwait said Thursday that its government revenues had dropped by nearly half since April as oil-rich Gulf states suffer from the slump in crude prices.

Kuwait and its Gulf neighbors are having to deal with oil prices that have dropped by more than half in a year to below $50 a barrel, with many forecasting deficits after enjoying huge windfalls from high crude prices over many years. 

The traditional bazaar has long been the place to shop in Iran but despite years of sanctions a new generation has discovered a vastly different consumer experience: blatant, unapologetic Western-style consumerism.

Instead of meandering markets echoing with the sound of haggling, huge shopping malls boast multiple floors of retail space, enormous underground parking lots and children's play zones.

Oil turned higher in Asia Thursday in volatile trading as jittery investors awaited a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision later in the day.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in October was up two cents to $47.17 in afternoon trade, reversing losses earlier in the day.

China's economic downturn and weak inflation pose a challenge to the U.S. Federal Reserve as it weighs raising interest rates for the first time in nine years on Thursday.

Analysts say the risks have risen for a slowdown in U.S. growth that might persuade the Fed to hold off from a rate hike for a few more months.

The OECD cut its world economic growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016 on Wednesday, warning of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global outlook clouded by uncertainty over China.

The policy analysis club of 34 advanced economies had already slashed its forecasts just three months ago because of weak U.S. activity.

The head of the German central bank or Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, said Wednesday the influx of refugees is a challenge for Germany, but also an opportunity given its ageing population. 

"Coping with the influx of refugees will demand a lot from Germany. But immigration also brings with it opportunities," Weidmann told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview. 

Financial markets that have been buffeted by the prospect of the first U.S. interest rate hike in almost a decade are buckling up as the Federal Reserve begins meeting Wednesday to weigh its decision.

An uncommon debate has raged over whether the U.S. central bank should go ahead with a quarter-point increase to the federal funds rate that would nevertheless mark a crucial break with the Fed's crisis stance since 2008.

The EU's top court toughened its stance on "welfare tourism" on Tuesday, in a decision likely to boost British Prime Minister David Cameron's hopes for EU negotiations ahead of a membership referendum.

The European Court of Justice ruled that member states can end benefits to EU citizens, even if they worked for a certain period in the country, expanding on a decision made in November last year.