MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Friday but stayed within touching distance of nine-month highs hit overnight as soaring COVID-19 cases weigh on fuel demand and U.S. lawmakers continue to battle over a $900 billion economic stimulus package.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares on Friday slipped from the record they hit a day earlier, but the prospect of a major U.S. coronavirus relief package left some investors still in the mood to pick up stocks and other risk-exposed assets.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s core consumer prices dropped in November at their fastest pace in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic hit demand, stoking fears of a return to deflation and wiping out the benefits former premier Shinzo Abe’s stimulus policies.

BERLIN, Dec 17 (Reuters) - European car registrations dropped in November, declining for the second month in row, industry data showed on Thursday, as measures to restrict a second coronavirus wave hit sales in the continent’s largest markets.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar languished near fresh 2-1/2-year lows against its major rivals on Thursday as progress toward agreeing a U.S. stimulus package and a Brexit deal boosted risk appetite at the expense of the safest assets.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices hit a nine-month high early on Thursday after U.S. government data showed that crude stockpiles fell last week and on optimism over a coronavirus relief package in the United States.