The fallen Franco-Belgian bank Dexia finalized the sale of a 90 percent stake in its Luxembourg unit to a Qatari investment fund, the bank said Thursday.

"Precision Capital, a Qatari investment group, will acquire 90 percent of Dexia's stake in Banque Internationale Luxembourg," Dexia said in a statement, adding that the state of Luxembourg will acquire the remaining 10 percent as part of the deal.

Oil recovered in Asian trade Thursday after sharp losses in New York triggered by a larger-than-expected jump in US crude stocks, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May, gained 78 cents to $102.25 per barrel in the afternoon while Brent North Sea crude for May rose $1.04 to $123.38.

Fuel began arriving in Gaza on Wednesday as per a new deal between the territory's Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, an official said.

"Tanks of fuel holding 45,000 liters each entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing this morning," Raed Futuh, the coordinator on the Palestinian side of the crossing, told Agence France Presse.

Oil fell in Asian trade Wednesday as hopes for a fresh dose of monetary stimulus from U.S. Federal Reserve were doused by the U.S. central bank, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May, shed 43 cents to $103.58 per barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May settlement was down 20 cents at $124.66 in the afternoon.

Renault-Nissan is aiming for more than a 10 percent share of the U.S. auto market, the alliance's boss Carlos Ghosn told Agence France Presse on Tuesday on the heels of encouraging sales figures.

"We want to reach 10 percent then we will set a goal" for a bigger market share, "but first we need to reach (10%) for more than one consecutive month," said Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan Alliance's chief executive.

New car registrations in Germany, a key gauge of demand in one of the most important sectors of Europe's biggest economy, rose in March, official data showed on Tuesday.

A total 339,123 new cars were registered last month, 3.4 percent more than the same month last year, the German federal motor transport authority KBA calculated in its monthly statistics.

Etihad Airways said on Tuesday that its sales have jumped 28 percent to $989 million so far this year as it pushed ahead with its rapid expansion, the Associated Presse reported.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline's CEO James Hogan said the airline turned a profit in the first three months of 2012. That follows its first year in the black in 2011. He declined to provide quarterly earnings figures.

Oil prices retreated in Asian trade on Tuesday as investors took profits from gains in New York, while weak Eurozone manufacturing data also pressured prices, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in May, shed 38 cents to $104.85 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for May settlement was down 45 cents at $124.98 in the afternoon, the Agence France Presse reported.

Australia's central bank kept interest rates steady at 4.25 percent Tuesday, saying growth was close to trend and inflation near target while the world economy was not experiencing a deep downturn, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

It is the third straight month that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept rates on hold, after easing the official cash rate by 25 basis points in both November and December.

Eurozone unemployment jumped to an all-time high in February, hitting southern nations the hardest as the social toll from the debt crisis grips the 17-nation bloc, official figures showed Monday.

The jobless rate rose for the 10th consecutive month, hitting 10.8 percent to set a 15-year record for the 17 nations sharing the single currency, according to the Eurostat agency.