Fears about the recent unrest in Saudi Arabia, which culminated with reports that authorities in Saudi Arabia had opened fire on demonstrators, have increased the anxiety about instability in major oil producing nations. This, together with worries about the U.S. economy, led to a dark outlook for equities on Thursday, pushing major indexes below key technical levels.

Fashion experts are expecting Chinese designers to lead the way at this year’s edition of the Milan Fashion Week, as China’s creativity is the latest trend. This tendency was prompted by the new wave of rich people in China, who generated a record year for sales at luxury goods makers such as LVMH, making designers like Ralph Lauren, Ermenegildo Zegna and Prada to look for inspiration in oriental designs in order to satisfy that demand.

Stocks on the New York Stock Exchange rebounded on Friday after a three-day sell-off as oil prices stabilized, but worries about the situation in Libya persist. The S&P 500 lost 1.7 percent for the week, being its first drop in three weeks, but it’s still up 25.8 percent since the start of September, making analysts demand a correction in stocks.

Spain is waiting for the euro-zone leaders to approve the strengthening of the euro rescue fund at a summit next month, also pledging to get its economy in order, with confidence in Germany’s support for a larger fund, despite Chancellor Angela Merkel’s domestic problems. However, European Central Bank member Axel Weber believes that the fund was strengthened enough and is doubtful of a further increase in it.

As a result of the euro-zone debt crisis, Germany has found itself in the position of dictating the policies in the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel calling the shots now and France being a mere junior partner.

Although the recent riots and political manifestations in Egypt hit the country’s tourism industry by emptying the hotel rooms, bars and casinos, the staff of the related businesses consider that the recovery will be a swift one and the revolution will help boost the trade in the long run. They believe that the revolution will lend the country a some sort of aura of romanticism and that it will enhance its exoticism.

The current state of the U.S. economy is controversial, since it seems that Wall Street and the U.S. government statisticians don’t share opinions regarding its outlook. A possible cause for the different views might be the focus on where companies are making their money.

Speculations that the European Central Bank will raise the interest rates before the Federal Reserve of the United States have kept the euro high in Asia on Monday. Also, the Australian dollar remained almost unchanged despite China’s newest policies to tackle inflation.

Despite the “currency wars” between China and the United States last year, Beijing is still intending to intervene in the currency market, keeping the speed of the appreciation of the yuan low, no matter the international pressure, according to a statement from China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan on Thursday.

China managed to surpass Japan after thirty years of spectacular growth and became the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States in the second quarter, according to official government figures released early on Monday.