Greece promised to slash its deficit in a 2012 budget unveiled Friday thanks to a planned debt deal with banks, but warned of a deeper than expected recession next year as austerity measures bite.

The blueprint was published as auditors from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund visited Athens for negotiations on a debt rescue deal brokered by the Eurozone last month.

World oil prices rose on Friday ahead of the weekend, but gains were capped by intensifying concern over the impact of the Eurozone debt crisis on global energy demand.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for delivery in December, added two cents to $98.84 a barrel.

Asian markets slipped again on Friday as traders grew increasingly concerned the Eurozone crisis will soon envelope larger economies after borrowing costs for France and Spain shot higher.

Tokyo finished 1.23 percent, or 104.72 points, lower at 8,374.91 and Sydney fell 1.91 percent, or 81.2 points, to end at 4,177 while Seoul finished 2.00 percent, or 37.50 points, lower at 1,839.17.

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse plans to close its only bank branch in Taiwan amid the deepening Eurozone debt crisis, reports said Thursday.

The move entails shutting down the bank's fixed-income operations but it will continue to offer brokerage services, said the state Central News Agency, citing Financial Supervisory Commission head Chen Yuh-chang.

The European Union said Thursday it is helping Greece negotiate with Switzerland in a bid to claw back some the 60 billion Euros in unpaid taxes believed to be hidden in Swiss banks.

The first feedback from a team of European Commission experts seconded to Athens produced "few concrete steps" forward, said Horst Reinchenbach, the German head of a task force trying to help Athens reform its economy.

New Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said Thursday that the future of the euro also depended on Italy during his first speech in parliament, in which he unveiled a plan to tackle the crisis.

"The future of the euro also depends on what Italy will do in the next few weeks," he said, adding that his new technocratic cabinet would implement "austerity measures" which would be balanced by "growth and equity."

Rising tension on Eurozone bond markets with record pressure on France and Spain hit stock markets on Thursday, as Germany warned Italy's new prime minister to move fast to avert even deeper crisis.

Investor sentiment was already under pressure after ratings agency Fitch warned overnight that US banks could be exposed if the Eurozone crisis intensified.

Global economic uncertainty will fuel the current surge in investment demand for gold, even as record prices force a slump in the jewelry market, the World Gold Council (WGC) said Thursday.

Global demand for gold was 1,054 tons in the three months to September, up 6.0 percent year-on-year -- equal to a record high of $57.7 billion in value terms, the WGC said in a report.

Airbus and Boeing concluded Dubai Airshow Wednesday head to head after bagging big orders, while the European producer widened the gap with its U.S. rival in promoting eco-friendly, single-aisle jets.

The prestigious show was kicked off with a record order by Dubai's Emirates for 50 Boeing long-range 777-300ER jetliners, worth $18 billion. The American manufacturer topped its single largest dollar-value order with the sale of two 777 freighters to Qatar Airways for $560 million.

EU leaders called on Wednesday for Brussels to have power to rewrite national budgets to ensure the euro survives amid concerns that such discipline could clash with democracy.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Brussels would have to be given the power to scrutinize national budgets and demand changes before they are adopted.