The Finance Ministers of Portugal, Slovakia, Latvia would bid to replace Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup, ahead of the vote among the 19-country bloc next week.
US consumer spending slowed growth in October to mark a 0.3% increase after a 0.9% gain in the prior month, strengthening expectations for the Fed to raise rates in December.
Euro zone consumer inflation rose at a weaker-than-anticipated pace of 1.5% in November, suggesting that price growth was still soft reinforcing ECB projections for a further dip.
The ISM said that manufacturing activity in the area of Chicago with the PMI index rebounding to the 63.9 mark this month from a three-year high of 66.2 registered in October.
Russian consumer inflation is expected to grow 2.9% by the end of the year, compared with the 3.3% seen in the prior month, before hitting the central bank's 4% target in 2018.
The UK house prices increased 0.1% in November, missing expectations for a 0.2% gain, as house price inflation continued weakening since the Brexit vote, Nationwide said.
The Volkswagen car brand forecast the record sales of more than 6M models in 2017, exceeding the last year's reading of 5.99M, the company stated on Thursday.
The number of applications for US unemployment benefits plunged 2K to 238K in the week ending November 25, missing analysts' expectations for a 241K rise.
According to the Nikkei business daily, Apple is planning to design its own power management chips to use in iPhones as soon as in 2018.
Eurostat reported on Thursday that unemployment rate in the Euro zone climbed to 8.8% in November, slightly missing the forecasts for the reading to remain unchanged at 8.9%.
The US supermarket chain Kroger posted a 4.5% jump in its Q3 sales on Thursday, driven by an aggressive discounting that lured a lot of customers to the stores.
Express Scripts Holding's CEO stated that he saw Amazon as a potential partner rather than a competitor, after Amazon showed its willingness to enter the pharmacy market.
The Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev stated that the country's ruling party United Russia was eager to back the President Vladimir Putin, if he sought a new term in the office.
China has issued new rules on Thursday, as it seeks to bring more private capital into the public-private partnership programme, which channels funds into the state infrastructure projects.
On Thursday, Turkish Denizbank stated it did not collaborate with the gold trader Reza Zarrab, who was found guilty of helping Iran get around the US sanctions.
According to the official data reported on Thursday, net migration to Britain plunged to 230K people in a year, following the 2016 Brexit referendum, mostly driven by the EU citizens.
French Defence Minister is hoping to clinch deals with Qatar to sell armoured vehicles and Rafale fighter jets to the country during the President Emmanuel Macron's scheduled visit in December.
Pope Francis is visiting Bangladesh after his trip to Myanmar to meet the Rohingya Muslims and help move forward to finding solution to the refugee problem.
OPEC and its allies are set to agree at Thursday's meeting on oil output cut extension by the end of the next year, four sources of OPEC reported.
On Thursday, the EU ambassador to Myanmar stated that the country must assure equal rights for all people in the troubled Rakhine state amid talks over repatriation of about 620K Rohingya Muslims.
Qatar Investment Authority sovereign funds is considering investment in the national carrier Qatar Airways and local projects, as it has already set a plan to support real estate development Katara.
British insurer Aviva is planning to spend around $4B in excess cash in the following two years, after several years of restructuring and bringing business to a high quality, the insurer stated on Thursday.
Asian shares weakened on Thursday, as investors feared that the boom in micro-chips that had previously driven technology stocks has reached its peak.
The Australian government noted on Thursday that it would request an inquiry into its financial sector, as scandals have undermined confidence in the country's financial system and its economy.