Happy Friday! Head over to our US site for more market moving news to take you into the weekend.

Delivery Hero shares fell as much as 9% in Germany, after Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission blocked the sale of its Foodpanda unit to Uber (UBER).

Taiwan's competition regulator barred the $950m deal, which would have been one of the country's largest outside of the chip sector. It would have been the sign of a retreat from Asian markets for the food delivery company.

Uber can now appeal the decision or walk away from the deal.

Oil prices edged higher on Friday, set for a modest weekly gain, supported by expectations that China's economic recovery will be bolstered by ongoing stimulus measures. However, the dollar's strength capped further gains.

Brent crude futures rose 0.2%, reaching $73.39 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also gained 0.2%, trading at $69.80.

On Thursday, the World Bank raised its economic growth forecast for China in 2024 and 2025, although it cautioned that ongoing challenges, including weak household and business confidence and struggles in the property sector, would continue to weigh on the economy next year.

In addition, China revised upwards the size of its economy by 2.7%, though it stated that this change would have little effect on growth for the current year. Policymakers have pledged further stimulus to support economic expansion in 2025.

Despite the positive outlook for China, a stronger US dollar kept oil prices in check. The dollar has appreciated by around 7% this quarter and remained near a two-year high against major currencies after the Federal Reserve signalled a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

In terms of supply, the latest weekly report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a drop in US crude stocks, with inventories falling by 3.2 million barrels last week.

In broader market movements, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was just below the flat line on Friday morning, trading at 8,130.59 points. For more details check our live coverage here.

Netflix stock slipped almost 3$ in early trade on Friday, even after setting new streaming records with the broadcast of two NFL games on Christmas day.

According to reports, the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 24.1 million viewers, while an average of 24.3 million people watched the Baltimore Ravens defeat the Houston Texans, with the majority of the audience coming via Netflix.

Investors could potentially be taking money off the table before the new year, as the stock is up around 97% for the year-to-date.

Netflix was set to open at $924.14 on Friday, having lost 0.9% on Thursday.

Brian McGleenon brings us the year-end crypto wrap — from bitcoin's rally (BTC-USD) to institutional adoption and regulatory movements: read more here

Pedro Goncalves writes:

Gold prices saw a modest decline on Friday amid thin year-end trading, though they remained poised to post gains for the week as markets awaited economic signals under the incoming Trump administration.

Gold futures slipped by nearly 0.4% to $2,641.30 per ounce.

Year-end trading in gold typically sees lower volumes, as many institutional investors close their books for the holiday season, leading to subdued price movements.

Despite the slight pullback, gold is on track to close the year with a solid 27% gain, marking its best annual performance since 2010. This surge has been driven by robust central bank purchases, heightened geopolitical uncertainties, and accommodative monetary policies from major central banks.

Looking ahead, analysts expect the upward trend to continue. "Gold will still be purchased by central banks, and as inflation continues, you may see increased demand for gold on the retail side as well," said Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, forecasting prices could exceed $3,000 per ounce in the coming year.

The Guardian has data from Begbies Traynor this morning which shows there were 2,124 retailers in “critical financial distress” in the first 11 weeks of the October-December quarter.

That figure is a jump of around 25% quarter-on-quarter — up from 1,696 in July-September.

Meanwhile, MRI Software data shows there was a -4.9% drop in footfall across all UK retail destinations compared to Boxing Day last year. w

Korea's KOSPI Composite index (^KS11) finished 1% lower as political turmoil continues to roil the region.

South Korea voted on Friday to impeach its interim president Han Duck-soo. The move comes two weeks after parliament voted to impeach its President Yoon Suk Yeol, following his failed attempt to impose martial law on 3 December.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong finished the session almost flat, and the SSE Composite (000001.SS) was slightly higher.

Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.8%, putting the index on course for its best year-end close since 1989. Toyota (TM), Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing (9983.T) and Sony (SONY) supported the jump.

US stocks look set to open lower later on.

From our US team:

US stocks struggled to meaningfully extend a "Santa Claus" rally the day after Christmas while Wall Street digested one of the only significant economic data points of the week.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell below the flatline while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) fell slightly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed the session up 28 points after flipping between positive and negative territory throughout the light trading session.

Small cap stocks inched higher, sending the Russell 2000 (^RUT) up 0.9%.

Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell to hover near the $96,000 level as volatile trading continued. Crypto-linked stocks like MicroStrategy (MSTR) tracked the declines.

Hello from Yahoo Finance UK. It's Friday (for everyone that's in the confusing "what day is it?" period between Christmas and New Year).

We don't have an awful lot of scheduled corporate or economic data today, but we'll be bringing you markets news ahead of the weekend.

US markets were open on 26 December and There was more political action in South Korea overnight.

Let's get to it.