The Bank of Japan reported that the country's monetary base climbed 9.7% year-over-year in January, after increasing 11.2% in December, whereas analysts anticipated a rise of 11.0%.
Google's parent Alphabet was in talks with Saudi Arabian state oil major Aramco over jointly creating a tech hub in the potential partner's country.
The US construction spending rose more than anticipated in December, as private construction projects received a record high investment, while government outlays rebounded solidly.
The Russian Finance Ministry is set to increase foreign currency purchases in February amid an increase in prices of oil.
France is set to start providing euro-dominated credits to Iran's buyers later in 2018, in a bid to keep trade outside the reach of the US sanctions.
Lowe's stated that the company would pay a $1,000 one-time bonus for more than 260K hourly employees in the US, as the firm was taking benefit of changes in the tax law.
After the Bank of England raised rates for the first time in a decade, investors were increasingly anticipating a rate hike in May or even two this year.
The Institute for Supply Management stated that the US manufacturing activity slowed in January due to a decrease in new orders.
General Motors announced that the company's total auto sales in Canada increased 12.4% over the course of January from a year ago.
United Parcel Service stated that the company's earnings in Q4 were affected by higher costs, as shipping volumes rose markedly through the holiday season.
Canadian manufacturing PMI was registered at nine-year high of 55.9 in January, owing to stronger increases in new orders and employment.
The Labour Department stated that the US non-farm productivity slumped seasonally adjusted 0.1% year-on-year in the December quarter of 2017.
The Markit/CIPS report showed that the UK manufacturing PMI fell to 55.3 in January, the weakest level in seven months, affected by the economy's weakness ahead of Brexit.
On Thursday, the Associated Press stated that the third-ranking diplomat of the US State Department Tom Shannon is set to step down, referring to his personal reasons, not political.
France aims to make all paperwork online by 2022, allowing people to fill out 100% of official forms via Internet, the French government stated in a review of public spending on Thursday.
On Thursday, a high-ranking politician from the Austrian Freedom Party resigned amid pressure over his links to a group that is deemed to be neo-Nazis.
The number of applications for US unemployment benefits slipped 1K to 230K in the week ending January 27, missing analysts' forecasts for a rise to 237K.
On Thursday, Time Warner stated its Q4 revenue surged 9% to $8.61B from $7.89B, boosted by success of the latest superhero movie called "Justice League".
On Thursday, Blackstone reported that its Q4 economic net income jumped 5% year-on-year to $850M or $0.71 per share, beating analysts' estimates for $0.67 per share.
Ford is planning to start the Chariot minibus service in another US city in the nearest future, in addition to NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, etc., and following its successful London launch this week.
British lawmakers are set to quit the Palace of Westminster for no less than six years as a multi-billion pound renovation takes place; the first time MPs are leaving the building en masse since the WWII.
Goldman and Sachs have raised their crude oil forecasts, explaining that oil markets have balanced six months earlier than expected.
After a snapping decline at the end of January world stocks began February by rising in the European and Asian sessions.
On Thursday, Nokia reported a better-than-expected Q4 EBIT that surged 7% from the last year to €1.0B, topping analysts' expectations of €888M, and driven by Huawei's one-off patent payment.