Most Asian currencies weakened slightly on Friday as the dollar retained a bulk of its weekly gains on expectations of a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices rose on Friday and are on track for a weekly gain of more than 1%, as tensions in the world's top oil-producing region, the Middle East, and a restart in Gaza ceasefire talks in the coming days kept traders on edge.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella's fiscal 2024 compensation surged 63% to $79.1 million, according to a filing on Thursday, helped by his stock awards in a year when the tech behemoth's market value breached $3 trillion.

US stock futures edged higher Thursday, following a day of declines on Wednesday that was marked by rising yields and falling megacap tech shares.

Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rose on Thursday as an upbeat forecast from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) kicked off megacap earnings on a positive note, following declines in major indexes in the previous session.

Bitcoin’s price steadied on Thursday after pulling back from recent highs as anticipation of a tight presidential election and relatively higher U.S. interest rates kept traders averse towards crypto.