Top Republicans could help Cruz quash the issue by rallying more forcefully to his defense.

American Airlines parent AMR Corp AMR.N posted the sharpest gain, rallying more than 9 percent.

The CSI300 index fell 1.3 percent, after rallying more than 3 percent on Tuesday.

The euro edged back to $1.083, after rallying more than 4% last week.

The euro was firm at $1.1126 after rallying more than 4% last week.

After rallying more than 50 percent this year to record highs, shares in the bookmaker slumped 7.3 percent on Friday following in-line results.

UK government bonds soared on the announcement, with the June future rallying more than 2.50 full points, while sterling fell against the dollar.

Oil prices had risen to a one-year high of $82 earlier this week, after rallying more than 10 percent in a week.

The Nikkei has fallen 4.6 percent so far this month after rallying more than 19 percent in January-March, its best first-quarter performance in 24 years.

The Nikkei is down 8.9 percent since April after rallying more than 19 percent in January-March to log its best first-quarter performance in 24 years.

After rallying more than 50 percent from lows earlier this year, world crude is struggling to get a foothold above $40 a barrel.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent to a seven-month high after rallying more than 1 percent in the previous session.

The euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.3091, keeping most of its gains after rallying more than 1 percent on Draghi's comments on Thursday.

US light crude for October delivery firmed 72 cents to $103.30 a barrel by 6.47am, after rallying more than $1 earlier in the session.

Europe's Travel and Leisure index lost up to 58% of its value in less than a month in mid-March before rallying more than 60% since.