France's finance minister on Wednesday forecast that the country's budget deficit would scrape below the European Union ceiling by 2017, as he unveiled his annual budget.

Michel Sapin told reporters that the deficit would be 2.8 percent of gross domestic output in 2017, just below the EU's three-percent ceiling.

China's former richest man Wang Jianlin once bet Alibaba founder Jack Ma 100 million yuan ($16.3 million) that online purchases in the country would not eclipse bricks-and-mortar buys in the next decade.

But while Wang says he laid the wager "for fun" two years ago, the billionaires' business interests are increasingly converging as Chinese consumers' spending habits undergo a seismic shift -- and much larger sums are at stake.

Royal Bank of Scotland will book lower bad debt charges than expected this year, helped by Ireland's improving economy, the state-rescued lender announced on Tuesday.

RBS shares jumped 3.76 percent to 375 pence at the start of trading.

France's public debt topped the symbolic level of 2.0 trillion for the first time, in the second quarter of the year, the national statistics agency INSEE said Tuesday.

The total national debt amounted to 2.023 trillion euros ($2.57 trillion), INSEE said, which represents 95.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). European Union rules limit debt to 60 percent of GDP.

Oil prices turned higher in Asian trade Tuesday on expectations of upbeat economic data from the United States, the world's biggest economy, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery was up nine cents to $94.66 a barrel in afternoon trade and Brent crude added seven cents to $97.27.

Japan's factory output saw a surprise drop and household spending kept falling in August, data showed Tuesday, fanning fears about the impact of April's sales tax rise on the economy.

The figures will add to worries that the country's tentative recovery has been knocked off kilter by the increased levy and strengthen the hand of those arguing against another hike next year.

China will begin direct trading between its yuan currency and the euro starting on Tuesday, the national foreign exchange market's operator said, as Beijing seeks to broaden the unit's global usage.

The China Foreign Exchange Trade System already offers a platform for yuan-euro transactions but direct trading means the U.S. dollar will not be used as an intermediary currency to calculate rates, according to a statement released Monday.

The chairman of Lenovo Group says the company has received U.S. government approval to complete its acquisition of IBM Corp.'s low-end server business and plans to use it to grow faster outside its personal computer business.

Yang Yuanqing said Monday the $2.1 billion acquisition is due to close Wednesday following a successful review by a U.S. government security panel.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which completed the world's largest stock offering earlier this month, has received approval to set up a private bank, it was announced Monday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Alibaba would be the majority shareholder with a 30 percent stake in a private bank to be established in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where the company is headquartered.

Oil prices eased in Asia Monday as the US dollar strengthened while dealers sat on the sidelines due to a dearth of trading cues, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery dropped 54 cents to $93.00 while Brent crude for November fell 31 cents to $96.69 in afternoon trade.