A member of Brazil's World Cup organizing committee sparked controversy Tuesday by telling protesters angry over the tournament budget that the money had already been spent or stolen.

Reacting to the wave of protests over the more than $11 billion being spent on the event, Joana Havelange chided demonstrators calling for some of that money to be redirected toward health, education and transport, telling them they were too late.

The holding company of collapsed virtual currency exchange MtGox is looking to sell the trademark to the word Bitcoin, The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.

The company hopes to raise at least 100 million yen, or about $1 million, for a package including the Bitcoin trademarks in Japan and the European Union, the Journal quoted an executive of the company as saying.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will buy a 10.35 percent stake in Singapore Post (SingPost) for Sg$312.50 million ($249 million) as part of a strategic cooperation deal, both companies announced Wednesday.

The two companies also signed a memorandum of understanding to discuss a joint venture in the global logistics business, particularly in Southeast Asia, the statement said.

Loans to the private sector in the euro area -- a gauge of economic health -- are still contracting, but at a slower rate than before, European Central Bank data showed on Wednesday.

The volume of loans to private businesses and households declined by 1.8 percent in April, after falling by 2.2 percent the previous month, the ECB said in a statement. 

Oil prices were mixed in Asia Wednesday, underpinned by concerns about the Ukraine crisis as fierce armed confrontation between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists continued unabated, leaving dozens dead.

U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July, eased four cents to $104.07 in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for July gained 13 cents to $110.15 per barrel. 

Ukraine moved a step further closer to visa-free travel to the EU on Tuesday when the EU's executive ruled it had put in place the required legislative reforms.

Ukraine "meets the first-phase requirements," a European Commission statement said. "The second phase where the Commission will be checking the implementation of these rules can therefore be launched."

The IMF declared Tuesday that Spain's economic recovery is here to stay, hailing a return to growth and job-creation despite the nation's 26-percent unemployment rate.

"Spain has turned the corner," the International Monetary Fund said in a report on the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, which emerged in mid-2013 from five years of stop-start recession.

Workers in developing countries are increasingly moving to better jobs and joining the middle class, but 839 million workers still earn less than $2.00 a day, the International Labour Organization said. 

"The developing countries are generally in a process of catching up with the advanced economies," ILO chief Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva ahead of the release of the agency's annual World of Work Report on Tuesday.

The euro rallied in Asia Tuesday after taking a tumble on weak German business data that had boosted speculation of further monetary easing measures by the European Central Bank (ECB).

In afternoon Tokyo trading, the euro rose to $1.3657 and 139.24 yen from $1.3618 and 138.80 yen in Tokyo on Monday. U.S. financial markets were closed Monday for a public holiday. 

India's new finance minister Arun Jaitley said restoring growth and containing inflation are the key challenges facing the country's government, shortly after being handed the critical portfolio on Tuesday.

Jaitley, a top corporate lawyer, said the government was given a strong mandate for reforming the slumping economy, which has been growing at below five percent, its slowest pace in a decade.