Agentic trading is a technology for investing through an artificial intelligence assistant that can analyze, research and execute buy/sell actions in an active account, where every transaction requires final user confirmation.

AI coding agents allow finance teams to build solutions without needing an engineering background, as they only need to define the logic and desired outputs, while the AI writes the code, tests it and connects it to relevant data sources.

The Japanese economy eked out modest growth in the second quarter despite the impact of the Iran war, official data showed Monday, but the reading fell short of market expectations.

Moody's has published estimates that last summer's European heatwaves cost 43 billion euros (US$50 billion) in lost economic output while generating only about 500 million euros of insured payouts.

Iran called on the United States to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" and told Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.

Asian stocks rose on Friday, poised for their strongest week in two months as benign inflation data dented expectations of an imminent US rate hike, although faltering talks to end the war in the Middle East are likely to keep risk sentiment in check.

The dollar nudged a little higher in Asian trade on Wednesday, receiving limited additional strength after renewed attacks on shipping in critical waterways in the Middle East, as currency markets anxiously awaited the release of inflation data later in the global day.