Japanese retail sales grew less than expected in October, data showed on Tuesday, as rising inflation, slowing economic growth and a severely weakened yen weighed heavily on consumer spending.
Oil prices rose on Friday, taking support from weakness in the dollar on some less hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, but were headed for steep weekly losses as the outlook for demand worsened and as concerns over tightening supply eased.
Japan's government left the overall assessment of the nation's economy unchanged in its monthly report for November, noting a moderate recovery but remaining cautious over risks from a global economic slowdown and financial market fluctuations.
European Central Bank policymakers feared that inflation may be getting entrenched at their last policy gathering so rates would need to rise further, the accounts of the Oct 26-27 meeting showed on Thursday.
China's biggest commercial banks have pledged at least $162 billion in fresh credit to property developers, bolstering recent regulatory measures to ease a stifling cash crunch in the sector and triggering a rally in property shares.
The dollar stood close to a three-month low and was on track for a weekly loss on Friday, as the prospect of the Federal Reserve slowing monetary policy tightening as soon as December dominated investors' minds and kept the mood buoyant.