The dollar steadied against the euro on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after the greenback had sunk to a three-week low point against the single currency on U.S. debt strains.

In London deals, the European single currency stood at $1.4495 after earlier striking $1.4536, the highest level since July 5. The euro had traded at $1.4509 late in New York on Tuesday.

Iraq's oil ministry has inked a preliminary pact with an Italian group for a refinery to produce 200,000 barrels per day of gasoline and diesel fuel for the domestic market, an official said.

"This is a six-month contract with the Karbala Refinery Corporation (KRC) during which the consortium must complete procedures ahead of starting the project," Ahmed Shamaa, Deputy Oil Minister in charge of refineries, said in a statement late Tuesday.

German drug and chemicals company Merck KgaA on Wednesday lowered its earnings outlook after reporting a loss for the second quarter, when it wrote down the value of its acquisitions Serono and Millipore.

The net loss of €86 million ($125 million) compared with a net profit of €183 million in the second quarter of 2010. Revenues rose 16 percent to €2.55 billion.

LG Electronics, a top global manufacturer of mobile phones and flat-screen TVs, said second-quarter net profit plunged as sales declined and its mobile phone business remained in the red.

LG earned 108.4 billion won ($103.3 million) in the three months ended June 30, the company said Wednesday. That was down 87.3 percent from net profit of 856.4 billion won a year earlier.

Gasoline Station Owners Syndicate President Sami Brax criticized on Wednesday Energy Minister Jebran Bassil for releasing this week’s fuel prices update.

“Minister Bassil has previously pledged to abstain from signing the weekly fuel prices update if they witnessed any rise,” Brax told Voice of Lebanon radio.

State-run Electricite du Liban announced on Tuesday that it discovered 1,612 cases of power theft in different areas during the month of June.

The power company said in a statement that its staff tasked with ending the violations was facing difficulties in some regions and mainly the Bekaa valley.

Nissan and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Co. will invest 50 billion Yuan ($8 billion) and launch around 30 models in China over the next five years, the Japanese auto giant said Tuesday.

The two firms -- through their Dongfeng Motor Co. Ltd. (DFL) tie-up -- also plan to nearly double annual sales and launch a zero-emission electric car, in a bid to increase DFL's share in the world's largest auto market.

Spain was forced to offer sharply higher returns on Tuesday to sell 2.885 billion euros ($4.17 billion) in short-term bonds as investors worried over sovereign debt burdens in the Eurozone.

The Spanish treasury had to offer a rate of 1.899 percent to borrow money for three months, up from 1.568 percent at the last such auction on June 21.

Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, boosted by a weaker dollar as talks among U.S. leaders made little progress ahead of next week's deadline to raise the government debt limit.

Benchmark oil for September delivery was up 42 cents to $99.62 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude lost 67 cents to settle at $99.20 on Monday.

Global stock markets fell on Monday amid growing concern about a potential U.S. default if lawmakers fail to agree a crucial deficit-cutting budget, dealers said.

Investor sentiment was also shaken after Moody's ratings agency sharply downgraded Greek debt -- and warned that the Eurozone rescue was almost certain to trigger another one-notch cut to default status.