Russia sold a record $11.3 billion in foreign currency to support the ruble on March 3, when the ruble came under unprecedented pressure due to concerns about conflict in Ukraine, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The Russian central bank sold foreign currency to buy rubles and prevent the Russian currency from falling further in value, after the market reacted with panic to parliamentary approval for President Vladimir Putin's request to allow military action in Ukraine on what has been dubbed "Black Monday".

Facebook is in talks to buy Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones, to step up its efforts to provide Internet access to remote parts of the world, according to reports from technology blog Techcrunch and financial news outlet CNBC.

Both websites cited anonymous sources who are familiar with the deal and put a purchase price at $60 million.

China's government promised sweeping reforms Wednesday to promote sustainable growth in its slowing economy by opening state-dominated industries to private investment, making its banks more market-oriented and encouraging consumer spending.

In his first annual policy speech as China's top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing will encourage competition, ease exchange rate controls and improve access to credit for productive businesses.

Australia's government rejected a request from Qantas Airways for a $2.7 billion unsecured loan to help the national carrier return to profitability, deciding instead to abolish foreign ownership restrictions, the prime minister said Wednesday.

In the wake of Monday's decision to allow greater foreign ownership of Qantas, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his ministers had acted on expert advice from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to decide that Qantas did not need the line of credit.

Kuwait plans to raise its oil production capacity by 150,000 barrels per day to 3.4 million bpd by mid-2015, a top oil executive in the oil-rich Gulf state said Tuesday.

"(Kuwait's) current production capacity is 3.25 million bpd. We plan to add another 150,000 bpd by mid-2015," said Hashim Hashim, the chief executive officer of Kuwait Oil Company, which is responsible for exploration and production.

Kuwaiti telecoms giant Zain said on Tuesday it has secured a syndicated revolving credit facility of $800 million (580 million euros) from 11 international and regional banks for general corporate use.

France's Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank acted as coordinator and the facility agent for the loan, it said.

Moscow's stock markets opened more than three percent higher on Tuesday after plunging over 10 percent the day before in reaction to Russia's military intervention into Ukraine.

By around 0620 GMT, Moscow's MICEX bourse had risen by 3.20 percent while the other main Russian market, the RTS, had risen by 3.30 percent. In the opening minutes they had risen by more than four percent.

The soaring cost of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency have made Singapore the world's most expensive city, toppling Tokyo from the top spot, according to a survey Tuesday.

Tokyo's weakening yen saw it slide to sixth place, the position previously occupied by Singapore, in the 2014 Worldwide Cost of Living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Italy's economy shrank by 1.9 percent in 2013 but its public deficit stayed within the European Union's limit of 3.0 percent of GDP in mixed news for the country's new government, official figures showed Monday.

The contraction -- which followed a shrinkage of 2.5 percent in 2012 -- was slightly more than the government's forecast of 1.8 percent, the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) said.

Russia's central bank on Monday raised its main interest rate to 7.0 percent from 5.50 percent in a surprise move that came as concerns mounted over the consequences of intervention in Ukraine for the Russian economy.

The Bank Rossii (Bank of Russia) said the hike would take effect from 0700 GMT Monday and implied the decision was aimed at limiting the knock-on economic effects of the Ukraine crisis.