Hopes dim of grand deal on debt at EU summit

World oil prices stablilised Wednesday as dealers awaited the outcome of an EU summit aimed at resolving the debt crisis before embarking on risky trades.New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, gained 20 cents to $93.38 per barrel.Brent North Sea crude for December delivery fell nine cents to $110.83 a barrel in London midday trade.Investors are focused on Brussels, where European leaders will gather from 1600 GMT for their second summit in three days on the long-running crisis that has dogged global financial markets.

European Union leaders are on the brink of an historic agreement to cut their seven-year budget by £30bn today after marathon all-night talks in Brussels.

European Union leaders are set to issue a damning critique of their own flagship policy for economic growth, draft conclusions for a March 1-2 summit seen by AFP Wednesday show.Almost two years after the European Commission unveiled the bloc's 'Europe 2020' strategy when the Greek debt crisis started coming into view, leaders are to slam progress towards five key targets they themselves set.

Saxo bank chief economist Steen Jakobsen pinged me with an interesting set of comments regarding Italian interest rates....World has Major Funding GapOur estimation shows that on the 2012 interest payment alone Italy now needs to find additional 10 billion EUR to pay for the rise in interest rates.Some independent trading houses have calculated that the combined funding need for Spain and Italy combined (banks, and national debt) is 400-500 billion EUR per year for next two to three years.