A look at global economic developments

By The Associated Press

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:

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BRUSSELS -- European finance ministers gather amid expecations they will offer Greece additional support as it struggles to refinance its debt. The exact shape of any package remains unclear, especially whether it will put any money on the table.

European shares slipped. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.6 percent, while Germany's DAX fell 0.7 percent and the CAC-40 in France ended 0.9 percent lower.

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LONDON -- The United States and Britain are more likely than Germany and France to see a downgrade of their triple-AAA debt ratings, agency Moody's Investors Service said.

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WASHINGTON -- China retained its spot as the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt in January although it trimmed its holdings for a third straight month. The string of declines are likely to underscore worries that the U.S. government could face much higher interest rates to finance soaring budget deficits.

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ATHENS, Greece -- A wave of new tax hikes hit Greece, raising the cost of consumer goods despite recession and high unemployment, as European Union finance ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the country's debt crisis.

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VIENNA -- With U.S. demand for oil lackluster, even traditional OPEC price hawks like Iran and Venezuela are happy with present prices near $80 a barrel as they head into Tuesday's meeting of the 12-nation organization.

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BEIJING -- Foreign direct investment in China rose at its slowest rate in seven months in February, the Commerce Ministry said.

Investment for February was $6 billion, up 1.1 percent from a year earlier.

Investors worried that the Chinese monetary authorities will accelerate their efforts to slow the economy to keep a lid on inflationary pressures. Shanghai's market fell 1.2 percent.

Elsewhere in Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average finished little changed at 10,751.98, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.6 percent and South Korea's benchmark shed 0.8 percent.

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FRANKFURT -- The number of people employed in the German manufacturing sector declined 4.9 percent in January compared with the same month in 2009.

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MUMBAI -- India's inflation accelerated faster than expected to 9.9 percent in February, adding to pressure on policymakers to continue unwinding stimulus measures.

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BERLIN -- A group representing German banks says it would support a privately-funded but state-controlled stabilization fund that could intervene in the future to rescue or wind up troubled lenders.

The Association of German Banks said it could be developed from the government-financed stabilization fund that was set up at the height of the financial crisis.

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BRUSSELS -- Soaring government debt endangers Europe's business climate because it could hold back economic growth and crowd out financing for companies, European employers said.

BusinessEurope, which represents 20 million European companies, called on EU governments to make changes to public spending, the labor market, taxation and research to get public debt under control and allow economic expansion.

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BRUSSELS -- Official data show that some 4 million jobs disappeared in the European Union last year, when countries were struggling to emerge from recession.