International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday that questions marks remain over the health of Europe's banks and that coming stress tests are a chance to build confidence in them.
A cash shortage among banks made the Chinese stock market one of the world's worst performing this year, showing how tens of millions of small investors remain at the mercy of government policy.
EU finance ministers Wednesday reached a banking union accord which will hand Brussels unprecedented new powers to prevent failing banks from wrecking the economy, official sources said.
Eurozone finance ministers said early Wednesday they had made progress on a new bank regulatory system, especially on the funding of a mechanism to close failing banks before they damage the economy.
Slovenia is to learn later this week if it has enough money to shore up its banks on its own or become the latest eurozone country to need outside help.
Chinese speculators have seen Bitcoin values plunge, soar and plunge again within days, but say the virtual currency's extreme volatility is a profit opportunity despite the white-knuckle ride.
The Bank of Japan on Thursday held off announcing any fresh measures to stimulate the economy, saying it was "recovering moderately" and that efforts to stoke inflation were taking hold.
Japan's October trade deficit nearly doubled from a year ago, official data showed Wednesday, as soaring post-Fukushima energy bills eclipsed an improving export picture.
