Barack Obama showed some presidential support for small businesses on Saturday, when he stopped at a local Washington bookstore for a spot of holiday shopping.

His visit to the Politics and Prose independent bookstore came on "Small Business Saturday" -- a growing movement that encourages shoppers to support local merchants.

Leading gold buyer India has announced it has eased controls on imports of the yellow metal after its current account deficit narrowed sharply.

India, the world's second-biggest gold buyer after China, imposed the import restrictions last year to avert a trade deficit crisis that pushed the rupee to record lows.

Striken Malaysia Airlines apologized Saturday for a year-end promotion tweet that sparked anger on Twitter after it inadvertently drew parallels with the still-missing MH370 flight.

"Want to go somewhere but don't know where?" read the post on Twitter that was meant to promote special deals by the national carrier, prompting scorn from online users.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered his government on Friday to slash the budget of his oil-dependent and economically-weak nation, as crude prices plunge after OPEC held output steady.

The leftist leader called for a "substantial reduction" of the salaries of senior government officials, from state firms to ministries and his own wages.

Oil extended losses in Asian trade Friday after the OPEC cartel refused to cut production despite a global glut that has sent prices slumping to four-year lows, with analysts warning of further falls to come.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery was at $68.63 a barrel in late afternoon trade, down 42 cents from its settle price in electronic trading in New York on Thursday. US floor trading was closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Argentina's tax agency has charged British bank HSBC with helping more than 4,000 Argentines to commit tax evasion by stashing money in secret Swiss accounts, officials said Thursday.

The Argentine tax authority (AFIP) said it had searched HSBC offices in Buenos Aires before moving ahead with the charges.

The European Commission was set to unveil a hard-eyed assessment of eurozone economies on Friday, with special attention on overspending France and Italy that risk sanctions by Brussels.

The Commission, the EU's executive branch, delivers official opinions on euro government budget plans under new powers given to Brussels during the eurozone debt crisis.

OPEC's decision against cutting oil production, despite a global glut in supplies, triggered a five-dollar collapse in crude prices and prompted a fall in early trading on Asian markets Friday.

The cartel pumping out one-third of the world's oil opted to stick by its output target, even after prices have plunged by 35 percent in value since June.

OPEC ministers met Thursday to decide whether to slash oil production amid a glut in global supplies, sending crude prices to new lows ahead of their pivotal vote.

The 12-nation oil cartel is under pressure from its poorer members like Venezuela and Ecuador to cut output as collapsing prices have slashed their precious revenues.

Public services ground to a halt in Greece on Thursday as unions launched a general strike in protest at more austerity planned in the coming year.

The walkout came a day after crucial talks between Greece and its EU-IMF creditors failed to break a deadlock on the country's planned budget and reform agenda for 2015.