The euro recovered from an early wobble in Asian trade Wednesday as forex markets shrugged off a Eurozone meeting that failed to land a killer blow in the battle to restore debt confidence.

Shares were mixed, with local concerns largely trumping global uncertainties in Sydney and Seoul, while Tokyo kept its eyes on the main world news.

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday, despite impressive gains at the start of the week and a positive lead from Wall Street.

Tokyo finished 0.23 percent, or 21.02 points, up at 9,107.43 and Seoul added a whopping 4.83 percent, or 86.56 points, to 1,879.87, after a public holiday on Monday.

European stocks sank Tuesday on news of a sharp slowdown in Eurozone powerhouse Germany, and before crisis talks on the economy between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In morning trade, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index of leading shares dived 2.29 percent to 5,884.61 points, the Paris CAC 40 dropped 1.47 percent to 3,191.41 points and London's FTSE 100 slid 0.77 percent to 5,309.4.

Oil prices retreated on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened, and traders digested downbeat European economic growth data and awaited news of any fresh plan to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in September, fell 84 cents to $87.04 a barrel.

Starbucks coffee chain chief Howard Schultz has brewed up a plan to force polarized U.S. politicians to compromise on a way to reduce the swollen U.S. deficit: Dry up their campaign donations.

Schultz cited the recent political crisis over the U.S. debt limit as grounds for the unorthodox boycott, charging in an email to fellow business leaders and obtained by Agence France Presse that elected officials "have failed to lead."

Iran has received "two thirds" of India's 4.8 billion dollar (3.3 billion euro) oil arrears piled up by sanctions-related payment problems, central bank head said Monday on ISNA news agency.

"Two thirds of the oil arrears owed to Iran by India have been received. The rest is on its way and there are no problems in this regard," Mahmoud Bahmani said.

Asian stocks put on solid gains on Monday, with Tokyo getting a boost from better-than-expected GDP figures that showed the country is on the road to recovery after its devastating tsunami.

Asia followed a positive end to Wall Street's week with green screens all over the region giving dealers hope after a turbulent few days during which they were battered by Eurozone debt fears and a U.S. credit downgrade.

The world is facing a crisis of confidence, the finance ministers of Britain and four other countries warned Monday, calling for a global response to reassure jittery markets and support a sustainable recovery.

"The world faces a crisis of confidence," British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in a joint statement with Australia's Wayne Swan, Canada's Jim Flaherty, Singapore's Tharman Shanmugaratnam and South Africa's Pravin Gordhan.

As Germany emerged from the destruction of World War II, it rebuilt its economy on a system of strong rules governing virtually every aspect of business, from auto manufacturing to competition among regional newspapers.

Today, the German economy is Europe's strongest, a regional powerhouse that its indebted neighbors depend on for billions of euros they need to cope their staggering indebtedness. Germany is insisting that they, too, adopt strict rules before it's prepared to release its money.

World stocks started the week solidly amid hopes that the recent sharp volatility in the markets may have run its course following a run of stronger than anticipated economic data.

Though concerns remain over the state of the global economy and Europe's debt crisis, many investors think the recent sell-off has been overdone and are snapping up potential bargains.