Rich nations will outstrip growth forecasts for the first half of 2012 but leading European economies will lag behind the United States, the OECD said on Thursday.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development strongly upgraded some of its forecasts in an upbeat view of the recovery from financial crisis and the European debt crisis.

European stocks fell on Thursday in cautious deals before this week's EU finance meeting which is expected to approve a boost in the firewall against future financial turmoil.

In late morning trading, London's FTSE 100 index of top shares slid 0.69 percent to 5,768.40 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.78 percent to 6,944.74 points and in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.49 percent to 3,410.46.

Saudi Arabia will act to bring down oil prices, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi said in the Financial Times newspaper on Thursday as concern grows that rising energy prices are hurting the world economy.

Saudi Arabia "would like to see a fair and reasonable price that will not hurt the global economic recovery, especially in emerging and developing countries", the minister wrote in a column.

Natural gas, whose price is at record lows thanks to a shale drilling boom, is gaining traction as an alternative energy in the United States, with automakers jumping on the bandwagon.

The use of natural gas instead of oil-based gasoline to drive the country's cars and trucks "is definitely starting to take off," said Mark Hanson, an analyst at investment research firm Morningstar.

Oil prices retreated Wednesday as France said it was ready to tap strategic crude reserves and as investors awaited the latest weekly snapshot of U.S. energy inventories.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May, shed 98 cents to $106.35 a barrel.

European stocks fell on Wednesday due to concerns over the growth outlook for China and the Eurozone, and after official data showed the British economy shrank more than previously thought.

London's FTSE 100 index of top shares slid 0.28 percent to 5,852.84 points in morning deals and Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.40 percent to 7,050.87 points.

Eurozone banks appear reluctant to lend out to the private sector the vast amounts of cheap cash they recently borrowed from the European Central Bank, data showed on Wednesday.

The ECB calculated in regular monthly data that growth in loans to the private sector slowed to just 0.7 percent in February from 1.1 percent the previous month.

World oil prices crept higher on Tuesday, as dealers awaited key economic data in top crude consumer the United States, and eyed the weak dollar and new supply tensions in Sudan.

In late morning deals in London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May added just two cents to $125.67 a barrel.

Russia is enjoying a period of solid growth but must tackle several challenges to overcome its dependence on oil exports and improve long-term output, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

Just over one month before Vladimir Putin returns to the Kremlin for a new six year term where he has promised to implement genuine economic reform, the Bank said Russia's economy was still suffering from weaknesses.

Japanese high-tech firm Hitachi on Tuesday said it plans to slash its annual costs 5.0 percent by 2015, or about $5.43 billion a year, to compete with rivals including General Electric.

The announcement by Hitachi, whose products range from microchips to railways, comes after the company said last month that its nine-month net profit dived more than 61.0 percent year-on-year, amid a strong yen and weaker demand from Europe and China.