The outgoing head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized on Friday for “foolish mistakes” made at the U.S. tax agency which he said resulted from a heavy workload, not a partisan mission.

A rule intended to loosen the largest U.S. banks' control over the trading of complex investments and help safeguard the financial system was weakened Thursday by regulators.

Moody's has raised Turkey's bond rating to investment grade, the rating agency said Thursday, citing improved economic and public finance measures and progress on reforms.

Malaysia's UMW Holdings plans to sell 39 percent of its oil and gas unit in an initial public offering this year that could raise up to US$1 billion, a source said Friday.

Yahoo on Thursday began spicing up its online news pages with real-time comments fired off at the globally popular messaging service Twitter.

China's private sector wages in urban areas grew 17.1 percent in 2012, official figures showed Friday, even as the country's economy expanded at its slowest pace in 13 years.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday as Japanese stocks hit a fresh multiyear high after Wall Street dipped on weaker-than-expected economic data.

The U.S. dollar was little changed against the yen in Asia on Thursday after investors adjusted positions on the greenback's recent surge, while the euro was weak on gloomy European growth data.

The price of oil fell to near US$95 per barrel Friday after new signs of a choppy economic recovery in the U.S.

Shares in Taiwan closed higher on expanded turnover yesterday as investors had high hopes that the government will revise the capital gains tax on stock investments by exempting retailer investors from the levy, dealers said.