Italy's cash-strapped government has raised more than 370,000 euros by selling 52 luxury cars owned by the state through online auction site eBay, the prime minister's office has said.

On the first day of sales, Rome managed to sell executive vehicles worth 371,400 euros ($513,000) from the sale of "auto blu" cars, the name given to those owned by ministers and state officials.

Demand for cars in Europe moved up another gear in March and struggling French group Peugeot Citroen did well, trade data showed on Thursday, but the market is still suffering badly from a recent slump.

Sales of new cars in the European Union surged by 10.6 percent last month on a 12-month comparison to a total of 1.45 million.

Japan's top steelmaker said Thursday it has built a system to make and ship the longest pieces of railway track in the world, extending to 150 meters (492 feet).

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal said its extra-long rails are more durable than shorter ones that need to be welded together and can offer passengers a quieter, more comfortable ride.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China increased 5.5 percent in the first three months of the year despite faltering in March, the government said Thursday, though outbound investment slumped. 

FDI, which excludes investment in financial sectors, totaled $31.55 billion in the March quarter, the commerce ministry said in a statement. However, investment in March declined 1.47 percent to $12.24 billion, it said. 

Failed Bitcoin exchange MtGox was placed in administration by a Japanese court on Wednesday, with an order for bankruptcy expected to be issued soon, its administrator and chief executive said.

"The Tokyo District Court decided today to dismiss the application for commencement of a civil rehabilitation and at the same time, an order for Provisional Administration was issued," a statement from CEO Mark Karpeles said.

Economic sanctions by Europe against Russia "would destroy Cyprus's economy," Nicosia's foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides said in a German newspaper interview Wednesday.

"There are very strong economic ties between Cyprus and Russia. If sanctions are really necessary, then every member state should decide for itself whether to take part," Kasoulides said.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse says net profit fell 34 percent in the first quarter as bond-market woes hurt earnings at its investment banking business.

Profit fell to 859 million Swiss francs ($979 million) from 1.303 billion francs in the same quarter a year ago. Group core revenues fell 8 percent to 6.469 billion francs ($7.375 billion).

New Zealand's inflation rate rose just 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in January-March but the lower than expected figure is unlikely to stop the central bank raising interest rates again, analysts said Wednesday.

Statistics New Zealand said the rise, largely driven by an increase in tobacco tax and surging house prices, put the annual inflation rate at 1.5 percent, well within the central bank's 1.0-3.0 target.

The U.S. Treasury said Tuesday that China cannot be ruled a manipulator of its currency despite the yuan's sharp slide since January.

But the Treasury warned that the recent fall could "raise particularly serious concerns" if it represents a reversal in Beijing's commitment to a more free-floating yuan.

Africans are losing $1.8 billion (1.3 billion euros) a year due to high fees levied on funds sent from abroad by relatives, Britain's leading think tank on development said Wednesday.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) found that Africans face some of the highest charges in the world for international transfers, but global leader Western Union insisted that the fees were down to a range of local factors.