Ratings firm Fitch cut Greece's credit rating Friday amid worries that the eurozone country is running perilously close to defaulting on its sovereign debt.

Fitch lowered Greece's rating by two notches to the high-risk level of "CCC" from "B," but said that nevertheless it expected the government would survive its cash squeeze.

The Federal Reserve is considering raising near-zero interest rates this year even though this may slow the U.S. recovery, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Friday.

The Federal Open Market Committee is now "giving serious consideration to beginning to reduce later this year some of the extraordinary monetary policy accommodation currently in place," Yellen said in a speech in San Francisco, according to the prepared text.

Microsoft said Friday it has purchased the office mobile app LiveLoop, which allows multiple users to collaborate on PowerPoint presentations simultaneously.

The purchase is the latest by tech giant Microsoft, after recent acquisitions of other mobile apps for professional use. 

Oil prices fell Friday after spiking the previous day as Saudi Arabian jets struck rebel targets in Yemen, sparking supply fears in the crude-rich Middle East.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May sank 63 cents to $58.56 a barrel in London midday deals.

Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann says he is opposed to giving Greece more emergency loans, charging the new government in Athens with frittering away a lot of trust.

"Until the autumn, an improvement in the economy had been discernible. But the new government has gambled away a lot of trust," Weidmann said in an interview with the weekly Focus that was released on Friday.

The Republican-led U.S. Senate approved a 2016 budget blueprint early Friday, one that would balance federal spending in 10 years without raising taxes, trim trillions of spending dollars and repeal "Obamacare."

The process, in which several dozen politically-charged amendments were offered, saw Democrats and Republicans stake out their positions ahead of the 2016 presidential election as potential candidates prepare to battle over who will succeed Barack Obama in the White House.

A default by Ukraine on $3 billion in debt to Russia this year could threaten the International Monetary Fund's lifeline to the embattled country, an IMF spokesman said Thursday.

The Ukrainian government has begun negotiations with creditors for $15 billion in debt relief, part of a $40 billion, four-year financial rescue envisioned by the IMF.

Borse Dubai has sold its significant stake in the London Stock Exchange, sending the British group's share price plunging on Thursday.

"Borse Dubai has today sold its shareholding in London Stock Exchange Group plc, representing approximately 17.4 percent of the share capital in the company," said a statement issued by the Gulf group, which was the biggest single shareholder in the LSE.

France's public deficit increased by slightly less than expected in 2014, while growth in the eurozone's second biggest economy was confirmed at 0.4 percent, the same as in 2013, the Insee statistics agency said Thursday.

Last year, France's deficit was equivalent to 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), smaller than the 4.4 percent originally projected, and compared with 4.1 percent in 2013, Insee said in a statement.

The success of the new China-led development bank has caught the United States off guard, after it fought the project and now finds itself increasingly isolated.

Britain, Germany, France... the United States has watched, helpless and dumbfounded, as its European allies flocked to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, seen as a potential rival to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, both institutions under powerful U. .influence.