U.S. auto sales touched a new high in 2015 as easy credit, hot new vehicles and strong consumer confidence pushed sales slightly above the record set in 2000, industry data showed Tuesday. 

Some 17.47 million vehicles were sold in the United States last year, nearly 70,000 more than the record set 15 years earlier, according to Autodata. 

Brent oil prices tumbled Wednesday below $35 for the first time in 11.5 years, plagued by abundant oversupply and the ongoing row between key producers Iran and Saudi Arabia dimming prospects for production cuts.

The market also tanked on expectations that the U.S. government will later report that rising stockpiles added to the global supply glut last week.

New car registrations in Germany, a key measure of demand in one of the most important sectors of Europe's top economy, rose sharply in December, marking a strong year as a whole for the industry, data showed on Wednesday.

A total of 247,300 new cars were registered last month, an increase of eight percent compared with the figure for the same month in 2014, according to data compiled by the automakers' federation VDA.

Tokyo stocks closed lower for a third straight session Wednesday, as exporters were hit by a strong yen after North Korea said it had carried out a nuclear test, compounding worries about China's economy and Middle East tensions.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange tumbled 0.99 percent, or 182.68 points, to 18,191.32, while the Topix index of all first-section shares ended down 1.05 percent, or 15.87 points, at 1,488.84.

Italy has launched a tender to find a buyer for the Ilva steel works, one of the most polluting industrial sites in Europe, giving national and international shoppers a month to make their offers.

The government's call for bidders was published in several Italian and foreign dailies on Tuesday, notably in the United States and Britain. Would-be buyers have from January 10 to February 10 to submit offers, individually or in an alliance.

Eurozone inflation remained unchanged at a lower than expected 0.2 percent in December, official data said on Tuesday, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to ramp up its efforts to boost the economy in Europe.

The data from the EU's Eurostat statistics agency came in below analysts' forecast of 0.3 percent inflation for the period, which is itself much lower than the ECB's official two percent target.

North Korea will send a delegation to the World Economic Forum for the first time in 18 years, with Foreign Minister Ri Su-Yong scheduled to attend this month's meet in Davos, an official said Tuesday.  

"He's coming," North Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, So Se-Pyong, told Agence France Presse when asked to confirm reports circulating in South Korean media about Ri's trip. 

French telecoms operators Orange and Bouygues both confirmed Tuesday in separate statements that they were were in "discussions" with a view to a possible tie-up.

Orange announced it had "renewed preliminary discussions" with Bouygues, while the company headed by Martin Bouygues said in its statement that "a confidentiality agreement" had been signed Tuesday by the two groups.

Oil prices rebounded in Asia Tuesday as a diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and Iran deepened, but a global crude supply glut and economic weakness in China are keeping any increases in check.

Tensions between the two major oil producers over Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric have erupted into a full-blown diplomatic crisis after Riyadh and its Sunni Arab allies cut or reduced ties with Iran, sparking global concern.

Oil prices rose in Asia Monday after crude kingpin producer Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran following a row over the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric.

Saudi Arabia announced the decision Sunday, a day after protesters ransacked its embassy in Tehran over the execution of the cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.