PORTUGAL

France unveiled plans on Thursday to add a German-inspired commitment to cutting its budget deficit to its constitution, as European discord over debt and financial regulation rattled global markets.

Germany said restoring confidence in the euro was its top priority, demanding tougher regulation and oversight on Thursday to protect the single currency, and joint EU action on withdrawing support for its economies.

Greece received a 14.5 billion euro ($18 billion) loan from the European Union on Tuesday and can now repay its immediate debt, but still faces a mammoth task to claw its way out of recession.

German investor sentiment fell sharply in May on concern growth will be stifled by a 750-billion-euro ($930 billion) rescue package designed to calm market fears of a wave of Greek-style debt crises.

Euro zone finance ministers are working on ironing out wrinkles in the 750 billion euro ($925 billion) plan they hatched a week ago to calm markets and stem fears of serial Greek-style debt crises in the currency area.

Nissan, Japan's third-biggest carmaker, said on Monday its Leaf electric car would cost under 30,000 euros ($38,110) in most European countries after incentives offered by governments to push the new technology.

Shaken by a debt crisis that is hurting their currency, euro zone finance ministers met on Monday to discuss more effective fiscal discipline for now and the longer term. The talks were the first since euro zone governments hatched a $1 trillion plan a week ago in a bid to stabilise nervous financial markets and limit contagion risks after the financial rescue of Greece, the first in 11 years of monetary union.

Advanced economies face a herculean task to restore public debt to pre-crisis levels, and failure to do so will drive up borrowing costs and curb economic growth, the IMF warned on Friday.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann cast doubt on Greece's ability to repay its debt in a TV interview and said a $1 trillion euro zone rescue package will help stabilize Italy and Spain, while the situation in Portugal is more difficult.

The euro languished near a 14-month low versus the dollar and European shares fell on Friday on speculation that fiscal austerity in some euro zone countries may stifle economic growth.

The Australian dollar has opened lower this morning as investors moved away from risk assets, leading to falls in equities and commodity prices.

Although price pressures in the U.S. economy are currently muted, inflation could accelerate in the United States in the next three to five years, the world's biggest bond fund management company said on Thursday.

Portuguese leaders agreed tough new austerity measures on Thursday, joining a coordinated euro zone push that has so far calmed the markets' worst fears of a Greek-style debt crisis spreading.

S&P 500 index futures edged higher on Thursday, reversing an earlier decline, as investors were cheered by a big technology-sector acquisition and Portugal moved to stem its sovereign debt problems.

Asian stocks hit highs for the week on Thursday after new austerity steps pledged by Portugal and Spain raised hopes that Europe's debt crisis can be contained, while IBM's strong profit forecast boosted tech shares.

Gold firmed near a record high reached in the previous session, while the world's largest gold-backed ETF reached an all-time high on Thursday as investors continued to worry that attempts to contain the euro zone debt crisis would either fail or stoke inflation.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday as fresh austerity measures promised by Spain and Portugal gave investors hope that Europe's debt crisis can be contained, while IBM's strong profit forecast gave a further boost to tech shares.

Gold held steady on Thursday after hitting another record near $1,250 an ounce the previous day on continued worries about euro zone debt, while the world's largest gold-backed ETF reached a new all-time high.

Spain belatedly joined the euro zone's austerity bandwagon Wednesday in response to a widening debt crisis as the European Commission sought an unprecedented right of prior review of national budgets.

Gold climbed to a second successive record high on Wednesday as investors bet that a proposed $1 trillion European rescue will either fail to prevent a worsening euro zone crisis or will stoke inflation.

The trade deficit hit its widest point in 15 months in March as a broadening economic recovery boosted demand for foreign goods, with a rise in exports and imports seen as a sign of growing global demand.