Behind the scenes, a team of international experts have for months been working on a plan to boost the stagnant Palestinian economy, set to be launched if peace talks with the Israelis resume.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled the broad contours of the scheme to attract some $4 billion in private-sector investment over the next three years at a World Economic Forum in Jordan in late May.

The Turkish central bank sold $200 million dollars on Wednesday, market sources said, in a renewed fight to hold up the value of the lira.

The central bank has been selling dollars since Monday when it announced urgent and "strong" action to defend the currency and contain overheated bank lending.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Tuesday downgraded the sovereign rating of crisis-hit Italy by one notch to 'BBB' on worries over the country's ability to resist effects of a dilapidating recession.

"The rating action reflects our view of a further worsening of Italy's economic prospects coming on top of a decade of real growth averaging minus 0.04 percent," it said.

U.S. regulators Tuesday unveiled tough new capital requirements for the nation's eight largest banks in the newest move to strengthen the financial system in the wake of the 2008 crisis.

The proposed capital minimums are intended to reduce risk throughout the system and address the so-called "too big to fail" problem, in which the government could be forced into a rescue when giant institutions founder.

Global agency Fitch on Tuesday upgraded Latvia's credit rating by a notch to BBB+, just hours after the Baltic nation was green-lighted to become the eurozone's 18th member.

"The upgrade follows the announcement of ECOFIN's decision today to invite Latvia to join the eurozone on 1 January 2014," Fitch said in a statement, adding that the country's outlook was stable.

Greece has raised 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion) through the auction of treasury bills, Athens said on Tuesday.

The sale raised an equal amount as the previous auction last month and, crucially, at the same borrowing rate of 4.2 percent, the country's public debt management agency said.

The tiny Baltic state of Latvia received the green light from its European partners Tuesday to become the 18th member of the eurozone from next year.

In what Latvia's prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis described as a "good day for Latvia and also for Europe," the ECOFIN council -- made up of the economy and finance ministers of the EU's 28 member states -- gave formal approval to the country's euro membership.

Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim has acquired a 10.8 percent stake in Shazam, the British company behind a music recognition smartphone application that instantly identifies songs and artists.

Slim's America Movil phone company announced the capital stock deal in a statement Monday, saying that the two firms "entered into a strategic alliance for business development in the Americas."

The International Monetary Fund on Monday hailed the progress achieved by the eurozone over the past year in tackling its crisis, but said it needs to do more to sustainably boost growth and employment.

"Policy actions over the past year have addressed important tail risks and stabilized financial markets," the IMF wrote in a new report.

Oil prices eased on profit-taking Tuesday following last week's surge, but losses were limited by concerns that escalating violence in Egypt will disrupt supplies from the Middle East, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, fell six cents to $103.08 a barrel in afternoon trade and Brent North Sea crude for August was down 20 cents at $107.23.