Britain took the ax to spending Wednesday, fleshing out plans to slash welfare and eliminate the deficit, but dropped a controversial plan to cut tax credits for the poorest.

Finance minister George Osborne spelled out his proposals for £12 billion (17 billion euros, $18 billion) of cuts to welfare spending and £20 billion of reductions to public expenditure, while raising £5.0 billion via a crackdown on tax avoidance.

U.S. rating agency Standard and Poor's said Wednesday a budding eurozone recovery was gathering steam thanks to consumers loosening their purse strings.

In a report entitled "Hangin' In There Despite Weak Foreign Demand", it said domestic demand had emerged as a main driver for growth, offsetting export weakness.

Cabin staff at Lufthansa said Wednesday they would cancel a planned strike against the German airline this week to allow for negotiations to resolve a protracted contract dispute.

Two weeks after mounting the longest strike in the company's history, the UFO flight attendants' union said it would call off industrial action scheduled for Thursday and Friday to hold further talks with management.

Faced with heavy losses from low oil prices, Gulf states have embarked on belt-tightening measures to cut spending and boost non-crude revenues, but analysts warn much more needs to be done.

After more than a decade of abundant surpluses thanks to high oil prices, the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are projected to post a combined record shortfall of $180 billion in 2015 and the draught is expected to continue for years. 

The yen and euro got a boost Wednesday as the Turkish downing of a Russian fighter jet sent investors into safer assets on fears about the broader implications of the incident.

Global financial markets were rattled by the shooting on the Syrian border, with European bourses tumbling and oil prices surging on supply fears.

Oil prices turned higher in Asia Wednesday as diplomats tried to ease geopolitical tensions sparked by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border.

But the global crude supply glut capped gains ahead of a U.S. Department of Energy report expected to show another build in commercial crude stockpiles, indicating slower demand in the world's top oil consuming nation.

Global oil prices rose Tuesday after Turkey shot down a Russian jet on the Syria border, sparking fresh tensions in the crude-rich Middle East, dealers said.

At about 1200 GMT, U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January added 38 cents at $42.13 a barrel.

Oil prices climbed in Asia Tuesday before a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel and a report on U.S. commercial crude inventories which will let traders gauge demand in the world's biggest oil consumer.

Analysts said the impact of comments by the Saudi Arabian oil minister, that his country was prepared to work with other oil producers to stabilize prices, was muted because there was no firm signal to slash production to ease the global glut.

Tokyo's benchmark stock index cast off earlier losses Tuesday as bargain hunting pushed it to a fresh three-month high.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.23 percent, or 45.08 points, to finish at 19,924.89, its highest since late August.

Audi said Monday it will spend about 50 million euros upgrading software that regulators believe flouts U.S. pollution limits in larger diesel cars in the U.S.

The upscale brand of embattled German auto giant Volkswagen said the repairs will cover auxiliary emission control devices (AECD) for V6 diesel 3.0-liter cars that the Environmental Protection Agency has since early November alleged violate U.S. emissions laws.