India's central bank hiked its key interest rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday in a surprise move aimed at taming inflation, which remains above the bank's comfort level.

After a meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, would rise to 8.0 percent.

Japan and Australia are moving closer to signing a free trade agreement, officials said Tuesday amid reports the deal will be inked within months.

If realised, the deal would cement a relationship worth around $58 billion annually in two-way trade, and bolster ties at a time when many in the region are nervously eyeing the rise of China and its growing economic power.

German business confidence rose sharply in December, data showed on Monday, with a surprisingly strong boost suggesting a sunny outlook for Europe's biggest economy.

The Ifo economic institute's closely watched business climate index climbed to 110.6 points this month, higher than the 110 points penciled in by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. In December, it had stood at 109.5 points.

The Turkish central bank announced a crisis policy meeting on Tuesday, as the lira plunged further against the dollar and euro.

The announcement came after the lira hit another record low value against the dollar despite heavy central bank intervention in the foreign exchange market last week.

Japan's trade deficit swelled to a record $112 billion in 2013, official data showed Monday, as the benefits of a cheap yen for the export-driven economy were diluted by soaring post-Fukushima energy bills.

The shortfall of 11.47 trillion yen marked the biggest deficit since comparable data started in 1979, according to the finance ministry, with the December figure alone doubling from a year earlier.

Samsung said Monday it had signed a long-term cross-licence deal with Google in a move to help the South Korean technology firm stave off potential patent disputes in the future.

The move comes as the South Korean firm is engaged in a series of long-running copyright infringement rows with Apple over technology and design in the firms' smartphones and tablets.

China was gearing up Saturday for the peak travel period of the world's largest annual human migration as the Spring Festival national holidays draws near.

Hundreds of millions of migrant workers will return home to their backwater towns and rural villages before the Lunar New Year, which falls this year on January 31.

Turkey on Friday sought to reassure investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos over the health of the economy despite the Turkish lira hitting new lows on political turmoil.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told the assembled global elite that despite recent volatility on the currency markets, investors were not rushing to pull their money out.

Moody's held its French credit rating at Aa1 Friday but maintained a negative outlook, days after President Francois Hollande announced a batch of business-friendly measures to fire up growth.

The U.S. agency affirmed the bond rating one notch below the top AAA rating.

Apple is considering launching a mobile-payments service for its iPhone and iPad, which would compete with major players such as PayPal, The Wall Street Journal said Friday.

The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Eddy Cue, Apple's iTunes and App Store chief, "has met with industry executives to discuss Apple's interest in handling payments for physical goods and services on its devices."