Talks on the European Union's trillion euro budget ended in deadlock Friday when leaders of the 27-nation bloc failed to overcome seemingly irreconcilable differences on spending.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy insisted however that progress had been made in the two days of bitter bargaining. He forecast that a deal would be made when leaders meet again next year.

Clothing retailer Esprit announced Friday that it had raised around $666.9 million via a rights issue as it tries to rebuild its brand with a multimillion-dollar four-year transformation drive.

A total of around 646.1 million shares were sold at HK$8 ($1.03) each. When the share sale was announced in October Esprit said it wanted to raise $677 million.

EU leaders looked set to throw in the towel Friday as talks on a trillion-euro budget for the 27-member bloc faltered over tensions between rich and poor states and Britain's "virulent" demands for austerity.

British Prime Minister David Cameron kept up his defiant stance on the second day of bitter negotiations on the European Union budget for the seven years from 2014 to 2020.

Hundreds of Jordanians protested on Friday against rising fuel prices and called for political and economic reform, an AFP photographer said.

Around 300 people, including Islamists and leftists, demonstrated in front the Grand Mosque in the center of Amman, chanting slogans that included calls for the government to step down.

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron met Friday for face-to-face talks on the European Union budget, a French source told Agence France Presse.

The meeting, also attended by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, took place on the second day of an EU summit called to agree the bloc's trillion-euro budget which leaders fear could end without a deal.

Standard and Poor's held to a downgraded AA+ rating for France and said the outlook remained negative on Friday, four days after Moody's cut its top rating for the country by one notch and warned that more could come.

S&P, which downgraded France from top notch in January, referring to recent French announcements on the economy, said although the government was "determined to carry out budgetary and structural reforms" France's long-term outlook was "negative."

Asian markets were mostly up Friday following a rally in the previous session, while dealers await another meeting on Greece's bailout and the resumption of talks on the U.S. fiscal cliff.

Trade was subdued with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday and the United States celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday.

Iraq's Oil Ministry says crude exports have averaged 2.622 million barrels a day in October, a nearly 1.1 percent increase from the previous month.

Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said Thursday that last month's revenues stood at $8.578 billion, based on an average price of $105.510 per barrel.

Japan's embattled electronics sector suffered another blow on Thursday as ratings agency Fitch downgraded industry titans Sony and Panasonic to junk status for the first time.

The agency slapped a speculative rating on each firm, pointing to their weak balance sheets and declining position in the global electronics sector as they come up against stiff competition from overseas.

The credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded on Wednesday debt issued by eurozone member Cyprus by two notches, from "BB+" to "BB-" and said the outlook was negative, which means it could be cut further.

"The downgrade of Cyprus's sovereign ratings reflects the materially weaker macroeconomic outlook, a fiscal budget that has significantly underperformed expectations and the continued high level of uncertainty over the costs associated with bank recapitalization," a Fitch statement said.