Spain's government denied Friday that it had entered negotiations for a sovereign rescue, which would make it the largest victim so far of the Eurozone crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria repeated to journalists a denial issued earlier in the day in Brussels by a spokesman for European Commissioner for the euro Olli Rehn.

International agency Standard & Poor's on Friday affirmed the Czech Republic's foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings and said the export-reliant country's economic outlook was stable.

S&P said it was sticking to its long-term foreign currency rating of "AA-," while the local currency rating would stay at "AA."

U.S. prosecutors are looking into whether British bank HSBC was involved in laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed federal authorities with direct knowledge of the investigations, the newspaper said the investigators were also probing whether HSBC circumvented U.S. law by transferring money through its American subsidiary for sanctioned nations, including Iran, Sudan and North Korea.

After urging the IMF to reform, the United States has been dragging its heavy feet and blocking, in fact, proposals aimed at giving emerging economies more say in the global lender.

The U.S., by far the biggest stakeholder in the 188-nation International Monetary Fund, is the only member of the Group of Eight that has yet to ratify a quota hike that would double its permanent resources to about $767 billion and executive board reforms that would strengthen the role of emerging economies.

The euro traded in a tight range in Asian trade Friday ahead of a closely watched meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras over financial aid for Athens.

The European common currency bought $1.2559 and 98.69 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, hardly changed from $1.2562 and 98.59 yen in New York late Thursday.

Shares in ailing Australian media giant Fairfax slumped to an all-time low Friday after an attempt by its largest holder Gina Rinehart to offload at least a third of her stake.

In afternoon trade, the company's shares were down more than 11 percent at 45 cents, having earlier touched 44.5 cents.

Australia's top central bank official Friday ruled out intervening in currency markets to rein in the booming local dollar, which is squeezing some industries.

The Australian dollar is trading around 104.34 U.S. cents and has been consistently above parity with the greenback this year, around 70 percent higher than the lows it experienced during the global downturn.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the government Thursday to adopt an "economy of resistance" to confront crippling sanctions slapped by the West on Tehran over its nuclear drive.

"The arrogant powers are pulling their weight to force Iran to back down (on its stances) and the government should invalidate these illusions by using the nation's full potentials," Khamenei said.

Sony's cellphone division is cutting 1,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its global workforce, mostly in Sweden over the next two fiscal years through March 2014.

Sony Mobile Communications said Thursday the job cuts are an effort to reduce costs and boost profits.

China's manufacturing activity fell to a nine-month low in August, a survey showed Thursday, stepping up pressure on Beijing for more interest rate cuts and stimulus measures to revive growth in the world's second-largest economy.

HSBC Corp. said a preliminary version of its monthly purchasing managers' index fell to 47.8 from July's 49.3 on a 100-point scale where numbers below 50 indicate a contraction. It said one component, new export orders, fell at its fastest rate in three years.