European Union finance ministers buried a bid to impose an EU-wide financial transactions tax on Friday, but the levy might be still be launched by a group of nations led by France and Germany.

Danish Economy Minister Margrethe Vestager, who chaired the debate in Luxembourg, concluded that the proposal to tax financial transactions across the 27-state EU "does not as required have unanimous support."

World stock markets mostly fell on Friday after the economic outlook in Germany soured sharply, with bank shares in focus after Moody's downgraded some of the biggest names including HSBC.

Europe's main stock markets closed lower, mirroring losses in Asia in the wake of weak manufacturing data from China, but U.S. stocks rebounded.

Australia's Qantas has warned the government it could "go under" if Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is allowed a greater stake in rival carrier Virgin Australia, a report said Friday.

Its executives have been lobbying the government, saying that if Etihad doubled its stake in Virgin Australia it could hurt Qantas by undercutting its domestic fares, The Sydney Morning Herald said.

German luxury car maker BMW said Thursday that it was reconsidering a joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroen of France to make hybrid vehicles in light of a deal between Peugeot and U.S. giant GM.

"The alliance between PSA and GM has changed the joint venture's conditions," a BMW spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

The Societe Generale de Banque au Liban and the European Investment Bank have signed an agreement for the establishment of a credit line of 15 million euros to partially finance investment projects of Small and Medium Enterprises and Industries in Lebanon.

“This operation is part of chapter III of the plan for financing private sector investments in Lebanon, launched by the EIB in October 2011,” the European bank said in a press release.

The health of 15 of the world's largest financial institutions has been called into serious question after Moody's downgraded their credit ratings, citing risk exposure and the Eurozone crisis.

Some of the biggest names in banking -- including Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC and Deutsche Bank -- saw their ratings slashed Thursday, spelling increased investor scrutiny and potentially higher borrowing costs.

Oil prices fell in Asian trade Thursday on rising U.S. crude stockpiles while traders were also disappointed by muted stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, shed $1.09 to $80.36 a barrel in the afternoon of its first trading day and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August retreated 47 cents to $92.22.

Russia's second-largest airline, Transaero, agreed Thursday to buy four Airbus A380 jets in a deal worth $1.7 billion becoming the first ex-Soviet carrier to order the world's biggest passenger jet.

The contract was signed by Transaero's general director Olga Pleshakova and Airbus Executive Vice-President Europe, Christopher Buckley at the annual Saint Petersburg Economic Forum.

Oracle boss Larry Ellison has bought a Hawaiian island from a fellow multi-billionaire businessman, the governor of the U.S. Pacific Ocean state said Wednesday.

Ellison, co-founder and chief executive officer of the tech giant, has purchased 98 percent of the 141 square mile (365 square kilometer) island of Lana'i from its owner Castle & Cooke, said governor Neil Abercrombie.

Nissan Motor is cutting its production in Japan by 15.0 percent from next month in a response to surging manufacturing costs driven by a stronger yen and weakening domestic demand, reports said Thursday.

The company will suspend one of two production lines at the Oppama factory south of Tokyo, resulting in its domestic annual output falling to 1.15 million vehicles from 1.35 million, according to the Nikkei business daily and domestic agencies Jiji Press and Kyodo News.