Oil prices rose on Thursday following a series of steep declines as investors looked to a potential slowdown in U.S. interest rate hikes, with focus now turning to weekly inventory data to gauge the strength of year-end oil consumption. 

China will step up fiscal expansion in an appropriate manner in 2023 by boosting fiscal spending and investment via local government special bonds to spur the economy, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday, citing the finance minister Liu Kun.

Asian equities rose on Wednesday, while the dollar was on the back foot after a steep spike overnight, with investors keenly awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting to gauge the path forward for interest rates.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday the central bank would maintain its loose monetary policy in order to sustain inflation at its 2% target along with wage growth.

 Japanese factory activity fell in December at the sharpest pace in 26 months, a business survey showed on Wednesday, with companies seeing further declines amid a global economic slowdown.

South Korea's global automotive sales grew in single digits last year due to the moderated supply disruption of semiconductors used to make vehicles, industry data showed on Tuesday.