President Barack Obama Thursday signed into law the compromise U.S. budget bill recently negotiated by feuding lawmakers and a massive defense bill that takes a step toward ultimate closure of Guantanamo.

After signing the legislation while vacationing in Hawaii with his family, Obama praised the National Defense Authorization Act for allowing accelerated repatriation of detainees from the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. weekly jobless claims fell more than expected for the week ending December 21, the government said on Thursday.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell 42,000 to 338,000 from an adjusted 380,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said. Analysts had projected that 350,000 claims would be filed.

The Turkish lira hit a fresh record low on Thursday following a cabinet reshuffle by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid a huge graft scandal.

The lira fell to 2.1035 against the dollar on Thursday, after starting the day at 2.0914.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Thursday raised its outlook for Ukraine to stable from negative, saying a multi-billion dollar bailout deal from Russia should mean Kiev meets its external financing needs over the next year.

The outlook change means that Standard and Poor's is now less likely to further downgrade its 'B- /B' assessment of Ukraine's creditworthiness on its sovereign debt, which remains deep into junk status.

The dollar rose to a five-year high against the yen in Asian trading Thursday on the back of strong Japanese share prices in a thin holiday market.

The greenback rose to 104.85 yen in early trade, its highest since October 2008, before settling at 104.71 yen.

China's Cabinet estimates this year's economic growth edged down to 7.6 percent and warned it faces pressure to decline further, a state news agency said Thursday.

The forecast, reported by the Xinhua News Agency, is below the 2012 rate of 7.7 percent but above the government's 7.5 percent target.

Crude edged higher in Asian trade Thursday on supply concerns following escalating violence in oil-producer South Sudan, but gains were capped as dealers sat on the sidelines awaiting fresh leads after the festive season.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was up 13 cents at $99.35 in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude for February gained 17 cents to $112.07.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced the recall of more than 400,000 Toyota cars for alleged problems with unintended acceleration, a statement from the kingdom's ministry of commerce and industry said.

It said the vehicles will be equipped with a break override system to "reduce the risk of sudden unintended acceleration without the ability to stop or control it."

Damascus signed an oil and gas deal with a Russian company Wednesday which will allow for the first-ever exploration off Syria's coast.

The agreement was signed by Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas, Syria's General Petroleum Company and the Russian Soyuzneftegaz company, according to an Agence France Presse reporter present at the signing.

Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's debt-laden oil company, currently under bankruptcy protection, has agreed with foreign creditors to renegotiate $5.8 billion in debt into a 90 percent stake in the firm.

Oleo e Gas Participacoes (OGP), formerly known as OGX, informed Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission of the accord, the G1 news website reported Wednesday.