Greek unions have launched an anti-austerity general strike that has halted train and island ferry services while disrupting state hospitals and other public services.

Wednesday's 24-hour strike is also causing public transport disruptions in Athens, where unionists are planning two separate protest marches to Parliament.

Germany's trade surplus shrank nine percent in February from the January level, allowing for seasonal blips, the federal statistics office Destatis said on Wednesday.

The surplus dip for Europe's biggest economy -- to 15.7 billion euros ($21.6 billion) from 17.3 billion the month before -- was the result of higher imports of 77.6 billion euros against slightly lower exports of 93.3 billion euros.

Two big U.S. firms -- Bank of America and microchip giant Intel -- Tuesday announced closures in Costa Rica leading to nearly 3,000 layoffs, dealing a double blow to the Central American country's economy.

It came two days after the election of third-party candidate Luis Guillermo Solis as the next president of the nation of under five million people and represents a significant setback to its bid to become a high-tech hub.

The global economy is strengthening but faces threats from super-low inflation and outflows of capital from emerging economies, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.

The lending organization expects the global economy to grow 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2015, up from 3 percent last year. Those figures are just one-tenth of a percentage point below the IMF's previous forecasts in January.

Kuwait said Tuesday it will supply Egypt with 85,000 barrels of oil daily and 1.5 million tonnes of fuel for three years as part of a newly agreed commercial deal.

The supplies would be valued at market prices and delivered by the end of 2016 under the agreement struck on Monday, said Kuwait Petroleum Corp. marketing chief Ibrahim al-Mudhaf.

Industrial output across Britain rose by a robust 0.9 percent in February compared with activity in January, official data showed on Tuesday, cementing the country's economic recovery.

And over 12 months, output jumped by 2.7 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) added in a statement.

South Korea and Australia signed a free trade deal Tuesday which will scrap almost all tariffs within a decade while immediately lifting levies on some key exports, including South Korean cars and Australian wine.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said there was "huge untapped potential" in trade between the two countries as the deal was signed, wrapping up four years of negotiations.

Oil prices rose in Asian trade Tuesday on renewed fears about Ukraine after pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings in the eastern city of Donetsk.

New York's main contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery rose 51 cents to $100.95 a barrel in afternoon trade and Brent North Sea crude for May gained 26 cents to $106.08.

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday painted an upbeat picture of the world's number three economy and stood pat on its monetary easing program as it assesses the impact of a controversial sales tax rise.

Policymakers decided to hold fire on the multi-billion-dollar asset-purchase scheme introduced in April last year as part of a drive by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to drag the country out of years of deflation and slumbering growth.

Bank of Cyprus said Monday it is looking "positively" at a revised offer to sell its loss-making PJSC Ukrainian unit to Russia's Alfa Group as part of a restructuring drive.

In January, BoC, the island's largest lender, said it had agreed to sell its 99.77 percent stake in the subsidiary to ABH Ukraine, which is part of Alfa Group, for 225 million euros ($308 million).