The value of the volatile virtual currency Bitcoin leapt in China on Thursday, after falling nearly 50 percent one day earlier due to new restrictions reportedly imposed by the central bank.

Late Thursday Bitcoins were trading at 3,430 yuan ($565) each on China's biggest trading platform BTC China, up more than 70 percent from an intra-day low of 2,011 yuan on Wednesday.

The European Union took a historic step towards greater integration just hours ahead of a summit Thursday, with a deal on a banking union aimed at preventing a repeat of the eurozone's crippling crises.

The agreement, which marks one of the biggest transfers of national sovereignty to the bloc since the creation of its single currency, will be put for approval to European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, just beginning a fresh four-year mandate.

The U.S. Senate passed a compromise two-year budget accord Wednesday, marking a truce in the fiscal wars that have plagued Washington and reducing the likelihood of a government shutdown in January.

The measure, which already cleared the House and passed the Senate 64-36 with the support of nine Republicans and the entire Democratic caucus, now goes to President Barack Obama, who said he was "pleased" with the vote.

European finance ministers appear to have made a breakthrough in their long-standing efforts to deal with failing banks. But other tough issues remain to be resolved in discussions Wednesday.

An agreement will help bolster efforts to complete a proposed banking union that officials hope will boost confidence in the sector and prevent bank failures from threatening the financial health of governments. One of the reasons why Europe got into such a big financial mess was that governments had to step in to save their banks when the financial crisis first exploded in 2007-8.

Spanish banks' bad loans hit the highest level for 50 years in October, data showed on Wednesday, despite the sector getting good marks from creditors as it exits its bailout program.

The level of bad loans -- ones judged highly unlikely to be repaid -- rose to 13 percent of all outstanding credit from 12.68 percent in August, figures from the Bank of Spain showed.

The U.S. Senate backed a bipartisan budget deal on Tuesday, virtually assuring passage of a bill that sets spending caps and reduces prospects of a government shutdown in 2014.

The bill, which has already won House approval, cleared a Senate procedural hurdle by 67 votes to 33 and is now expected to pass Congress Wednesday before the year-end recess.

India's central bank kept a key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, surprising financial markets which had expected a rise to battle surging inflation.

After meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, would remain at 7.75 percent.

The consortium developing an immense Azerbaijani natural gas field in the Caspian Sea signed on Tuesday a final investment deal that paves the way for the first deliveries to Europe.

The Shah Deniz II consortium signed off on the final decision worth about $28 billion (20 billion euros) of investment that triggers the start of construction of a major new pipeline to Europe.

The Philippine economy should grow 7.0 percent this year and between 6.5 and 7.5 percent next year despite the devastation caused by a killer typhoon and an earthquake, the government said Tuesday.

Economic planning minister Arsenio Balisacan said that while losses in agriculture caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in November were expected to hit growth in the near term, rebuilding would likely make up for it further down the line.

Britain's banking reform bill cleared its final legislative hurdle late on Monday, paving the way for a raft of new regulations including the "ring fencing" of banks' retail and investment divisions.

A vote in the House of Lords, Britain's upper chamber, rubber-stamped the government's plans for reforming the embattled sector, ending a challenge from the opposition Labor party, which wanted a licensing system on banking standards to be included.