• Sterling dived and the FTSE share index was set to fall 1 percent on Friday after a shockingly bad election result for Prime Minister Theresa May plunged Britain into political chaos days before the start of Brexit talks.
The surprise of a result that raises questions about how Britain will advance with its plan to leave the European Union, and whether any party can form a stable government, initially sank the pound by 2 percent against both the dollar and euro.
By 0530 GMT, sterling was 1.5 percent lower on the day at $1.2753 - having fallen as low as $1.2693 - and 87.78 pence per euro.
• European Union leaders fear Prime Minister Theresa May's shock loss of her majority in the snap British election will delay Brexit talks due to start this month and raise the risk of negotiations failing.
• Britain may have to delay Brexit talks in the absence of a majority for Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party, JPMorgan said on Friday.
With no clear winner emerging from the parliamentary election, a wounded May signaled she would fight on, despite being on course to lose her majority in the House of Commons.
• Inflation in Germany will remain well below the European Central Bank's target of just under 2 percent for another year, new estimates from the country's central bank showed on Friday.
The Bundesbank cut its inflation forecasts for 2018 and 2019 to 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, while nudging up its projection for this year to 1.5 percent.
• German exports rose more strongly than expected in April and imports posted an even bigger increase, narrowing the trade surplus of Europe's biggest economy, data showed on Friday.
Seasonally adjusted exports were up 0.9 percent on the month while imports jumped 1.2 percent, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed.
• Japan's parliament on Friday passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate, clearing the way for the first abdication by a Japanese monarch in nearly two centuries and the accession of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, probably late next year.
• In rapid fire moves that have stunned investors, Chinese authorities have begun tightening control over the yuan, lifting it sharply in a concerted effort to restore market confidence and forestall risks of capital outflows and slower growth, policy insiders say.
• Qatar vowed on Thursday to ride out the isolation imposed on it by fellow Arab states over its alleged support for terrorism and said it would not compromise its sovereignty over foreign policy to resolve the region's biggest diplomatic crisis in years.
• Oil prices dipped on Friday following steep falls earlier this week, pressured by evidence of an ongoing fuel glut despite efforts led by OPEC to tighten the market by holding back production.
Brent crude LCOc1 was at $47.75 per barrel at 0647 GMT, down 11 cents from its last close. It puts Brent around 12 percent below its opening level on May 25, when an OPEC-led pledge to cut production was extended into 2018.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $45.54, down 10 cents from the last close, and some 11 percent below May 25.
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