Oil prices extended gains in early Asian trade on Friday, following reports that Iran was preparing a retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days.

Microsoft predicted increased spending on artificial intelligence this quarter but slower growth in its cloud business Azure, signaling that big AI investments were not enough to keep pace with capacity constraints at its data centers.

The dollar fell against the yen on Thursday, after the Bank of Japan's less dovish remarks and U.S. data suggested upward price pressures continue to ease, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates by 25 basis points next week.

JPMorgan strategists said in a note Thursday that Bitcoin and gold could see significant gains if former President Donald Trump wins the upcoming U.S. election, as retail investors increasingly adopt the “debasement trade” by investing in these assets.

Oil prices stabilised on Thursday after rallying the previous day on stronger than expected U.S. fuel demand and reports that producer group OPEC+ could delay a planned output increase.

The U.S. dollar traded in tight ranges Thursday, as traders digested some mixed economic data ahead of the widely-watched payrolls report which closes out the week.