Moscow on Wednesday threatened retaliatory action against U.S. diplomats after U.S. bank JP Morgan blocked a transfer of funds carried out by a Russian envoy.

Russia considered as "unacceptable, illegal and absurd the decision of JP Morgan Chase bank to block the transfer by the Russian ambassador in Astana to insurance company Sogaz," said Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry.

German stock market operator Deutsche Boerse said Wednesday that its clearing and settlement unit Clearstream is the target of a money-laundering probe in the United States.

"Clearstream Banking has been informed that the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has made Clearstream subject of criminal investigation in connection with alleged violations of U.S. money laundering and Iran sanction laws," Deutsche Boerse said in a statement.

Italy's unemployment hit 13 percent for the first time in February and is expected to remain high for months to come, raising the pressure on new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The country's jobless rate continued to inch stubbornly up, defying improving economic conditions elsewhere in Europe and breaking January's record, Italy's national statistics agency said Tuesday.

Russian gas giant Gazprom on Tuesday announced it was ending a gas discount enjoyed by Kiev in a major blow for the Ukrainian economy, as NATO foreign ministers prepared to forge a response to Russia's intervention in Crimea.

Ukraine on Monday reported a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from its eastern border amid growing signs that the Kremlin is ready to defuse the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a $3.3 billion gain last year by exercising stock options in the social networking company that he founded in a Harvard University dorm room.

The windfall saddled Zuckerberg with a huge tax bill, even though he limited his Facebook salary to just $1, according to regulatory documents filed Monday.

Japan raised its sales tax Tuesday, moving to stabilize government finances but at the risk of undermining a shaky economic recovery.

It's a gamble the world's No. 3 economy cannot afford to take, given its soaring public debt.

A U.S. aid package to Ukraine that also imposes sanctions on Russia for its Crimea takeover is expected to clear Congress Tuesday and head to President Barack Obama, ending a weeks-long impasse.

But there is already concern that the delayed legislation might be too little too late to have a substantial impact on resolving the most serious East-West confrontation since the end of the Cold War.

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Monday he was confident that Cyprus's bailed out economy will recover in a "short period of time" despite the harsh "haircut" slapped on savings.

The Dutch finance minister was visiting the eurozone member one year after a controversial bailout deal which saw an unprecedented haircut on deposits over 100,000 euros ($138,000) to secure emergency funding to save a bankrupt economy.

Eurozone inflation fell to 0.5 percent in March, official data showed on Monday, the lowest rate since October 2009 at the height of the financial crisis, and amid concerns about the dangers of deflation.

Inflation in the currency bloc has trended steadily lower in recent months, coming in well below the European Central Bank target rate of just under 2.0 percent.

Switzerland said Monday it was investigating a range of banks, including domestic leaders UBS and Credit Suisse along with top global houses, over suspicions they manipulated currency markets.

The probe includes JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland as well as the Zurich cantonal bank ZKB and private banking group Julius Baer, the Competition Commission (COMCO) said in a statement.