Britain's defense secretary said he had finally balanced his department's books, in an interview out Sunday, following a week in which he made a U-turn on purchasing jets, to the annoyance of France.

Philip Hammond told The Sunday Times newspaper that he will be able to announce this week that he has fixed the £38 billion ($61 billion, 47 billion euro) so-called "black hole" in the Ministry of Defense (MoD) budget.

China's central bank is reducing the amount of reserves banks must hold in an effort to spur lending and revive a sharply slowing economy.

The People's Bank of China announced Saturday that the bank reserve ratio requirement is being reduced a half percentage point as of next Friday.

Spanish activists angered by grim economic prospects planned nationwide demonstrations Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of their protest movement that inspired similar groups in other countries.

Spain is in deep economic difficulty, prompting fears it may need a bailout like Greece, Ireland and Portugal. It is in recession, and unemployment stands at almost 25 percent — the highest among the 17 countries using the euro. One in two Spaniards under the age of 25 are out of work.

Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann warned French president-elect Francois Hollande on Saturday against tampering with the European Central Bank or the EU fiscal pact.

He also reminded Greece that it would have to respect its commitments or risk having its bailout aid suspended, in an interview with the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

U.S. President Barack Obama called on members of Congress Saturday to pass several initiatives designed to stimulate the U.S. economy and create much-needed jobs.

"There are things we can do - right now - to help create jobs and restore some of the financial security that so many families have lost," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

U.S. banking giant JPMorgan Chase said Thursday it had lost $2 billion on derivatives since March in what chief executive Jamie Dimon called a "flawed" and "poorly executed" hedging operation.

In a unscheduled conference call, Dimon also said the bank could face another $1 billion in losses through the end of June due to market volatility.

Nissan on Friday posted a $4.28 billion full-year net profit and record sales as the Japanese automaker shrugged off the devastating impact of last year's quake-tsunami disaster on production.

Japan's second-biggest automaker said it earned 341.43 billion yen in the fiscal year to March, up 7.0 percent year-on-year, surpassing its forecast of 290 billion yen and bucking a national trend of falling auto profits.

Sony and Panasonic shares plunged to their lowest levels in more than three decades on Friday as investors fretted about the future prospects for two of Japan's most iconic firms amid massive losses.

Sony, which reported a record $5.7 billion annual loss Thursday, dived 5.11 percent to 1,151 yen by noon, while Panasonic was off 1.55 percent at 570 yen its earnings later Friday, which it has warned may show a record yearly loss.

The United States is urging Lebanese banks to take "extra" caution in handling financial transactions with Syria, to prevent the Assad regime and its supporters from stashing money abroad, a senior Treasury official said Thursday.

"We want to be as careful as possible that the regime, its cronies, its allies that may be trying to shield their assets might not be able to do so," said David Cohen, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Athens-based Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling (CCHBC) reported on Thursday a net loss of 28.4 million euros ($37 million) in the first quarter of 2012, up from 8.9 million a year earlier.

CCHBC, Coca-Cola's regional subsidiary and one of the largest bottlers of non-alcoholic beverages in Europe, operates in 28 countries in Europe and Africa and employs a workforce of more than 41,000.