Saudi authorities have allowed construction giant Binladin Group to tender for public building projects in the kingdom again, local media reported, just days after the firm reportedly laid off 77,000 foreign workers.

The Turkish lira remained under pressure Thursday as political uncertainty rattled investors after it emerged Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is set to step down in a move giving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even more power.

The lira lost almost 4 percent in value against the dollar on Wednesday -- its heaviest daily loss this year -- as news broke that crisis talks between Davutoglu and Erdogan had failed to resolve tensions between the two men.

The dollar strengthened against the yen in Asia Thursday as upbeat U.S. data and speculation of a Japanese intervention helped cement gains from talk of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.

After dipping to an 18-month low around 105.50 yen on Tuesday, the greenback has enjoyed a minor rally in the past two days after two of the U.S. central bank's regional heads raised the possibility of tighter borrowing costs.

Oil prices climbed in Asia Thursday with Brent breaching $45 a barrel as raging wildfires threatened to cut Canadian output and a decline in U.S. crude production also boosted the commodity.

Authorities say wildfires are burning out of control in the Alberta oil sands region of Canada, which mines and ships heavy crude south to the U.S. market, and oil companies have reduced operations to facilitate the evacuation of non-essential employees.

Tunisia is confident that trade at the main border crossing with Libya will resume "very soon", local authorities said Wednesday, nearly a week after the Libyan side imposed a blockade.

"This problem will be resolved very soon," Tahar Matmati, the governor of Medenine, which lies on the principle route between Tunisia and Libya, told AFP.

Tesla is speeding the timeline for building half a million cars annually as it steps up production to meet growing demand for its electric vehicles.

Hot demand for a new, more affordable Model 3 led the company to shave two years off its timeline for building a combined total of 500,000 vehicles, combining Model S, Model X, and Model 3, each year and make the new target date 2018.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi visited Sudan on Wednesday promising increased investment in a major fillip for the impoverished African nation after its tilt from Tehran towards Riyadh.

For years, the Islamist regime in Khartoum maintained close relations with Iran, whose warships made repeated calls in Sudanese ports and allegedly delivered arms for onward delivery to the Hamas rulers of Gaza.

The European Central Bank is set to decide on Wednesday the fate of the 500-euro banknote, which many people associate with money laundering, the black market and terrorist financing.

But its possible abolition is raising hackles in countries such as Germany.

Seven big banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of market manipulation of interest rates.

The settlement Tuesday followed a federal judge's ruling in March admitting the class action lawsuit brought by investors and pension funds against the banks.

Air France-KLM said Wednesday it cut its losses in the first quarter of 2016 but passenger traffic to Paris was affected by terror attacks and the airline also warned of a difficult year ahead as it moved to cut wages of French pilots.

The Franco-Dutch group enjoyed lower fuel prices but said this was likely to be offset over the rest of the year by pressure on revenue and by the negative impact of currency swings.