Gold could hit record highs above $1,600 per ounce later this year, driven by low interest rates and stubborn concerns over the euro-zone debt crisis, metals consultancy GFMS forecast on Thursday.

"GFMS are expecting that towards the summer prices could start to move materially higher, with gold possibly breaking through $1,500 (per ounce) at that stage," GFMS said in its latest report.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that the euro is still too strong against the dollar and the exchange rate is hurting French and European exports.

"Today it's better because we are at a euro-dollar rate of 1.29 to 1.30, but it is still too much," he told workers at a plant of plane-maker Airbus in southwestern France.

Oil struck a two-year peak near 99 dollars per barrel here on Wednesday, boosted by plunging American crude reserves, and as the key Trans-Alaskan pipeline remained shut following a leak.

The market was also boosted following news of falling crude oil stockpiles in the United States -- the world's biggest oil consuming nation.

Saudi aviation minister has kicked off the construction work on the new terminal at Jeddah airport which will cost 27.1 billion riyals ($7.2 billion).

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the minister of defense, late Tuesday laid the cornerstone for the project during a ceremony at King Abdul Aziz airport, whose annual capacity should rise to 30 million passengers when the project is completed in 36 months.

Chrysler Group said Tuesday it plans to build a new sport utility vehicle for Italy's Maserati in North America.

Chrysler/Fiat Chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne said he had approved a plan to build a sport utility vehicle for the ultra-high end Italian luxury brand at the Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Washington Monday highlighted the difficulty G20 members face in questioning the dollar's supremacy among reserve currencies.

Sarkozy and his finance minister, Christine Lagarde, made a brief visit to the U.S. capital to sound out the White House and the Treasury on France's reform agenda as it heads the Group of 20 this year.

World oil prices eased Tuesday as traders awaited the U.S. government's monthly assessment for the global energy market, and the focus turned away from supply worries in Alaska, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, slipped 11 cents at $89.14 a barrel.

Jordan's government is preparing to take urgent steps to reduce prices of commodities amid rising popular discontent around the country, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"King Abdullah II has instructed Prime Minister Samir Rifai to take immediate and effective measures to mitigate the impact of rising prices of commodities on citizens," the official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Danish specialty food ingredients company Danisco said on Monday it would be acquired by US chemical giant Dupont in a deal worth $6.3 billion (4.9 billion euros), pending approval by regulators.

The purchase will involve $5.8 billion paid in cash and assumption of $500 million of Danisco's net debt, the Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont announced late on Sunday.

The world could face a full-scale "trade war" if governments keep pushing down exchange rates to boost exports, Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned in an interview on Monday.

He also told the Financial Times that Brazil was preparing new measures to prevent further appreciation of its currency, the real, whose continued strengthening threatens the country's export-led economy.