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

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PARIS _ European stock markets were slightly lower during sluggish year-end trading after Wall Street snapped a six-day advance overnight and Asian markets fluctuated. In Europe, the FTSE-100 index of leading British shares held its last full session of the year, slipped 0.73 percent to 5,397.86. In France, the CAC 40 retreated from its 2009 high reached Tuesday, falling 0.62 percent to 3,935.50 while in Germany, the DAX slid 0.9 percent to 5,957.43. European markets mostly shrugged off reports of improved home prices and consumer confidence reports in the U.S. overnight, and the strengthening dollar weighed on commodities. Futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street.

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TOKYO _ Japan's Prime Minister, faced with fading support as the country struggles to maintain its fledgling economic recovery, Wednesday outlined a new set of measures to spur growth over the next decade. The plan aims for the country's economy to expand at an average of 2 percent over the next 10 years, with gross domestic product to grow to 650 trillion yen ($7 trillion) from the 473 trillion yen projected for the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks ended the year on a downbeat note as nervous investors continued to unload shares of struggling Japan Airlines Corp. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 91.62 points, or 0.9 percent, to 10,546.44 in choppy trading. The broader Topix index retreated 0.9 percent to 907.59. Speculation about the fate of Japan's biggest airliner overshadowed the yen's depreciation against the dollar, which helped bolster some blue chip exporters.

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WASHINGTON _ The U.S. government is imposing new duties on imports of steel pipes from China, the latest sign of trade tensions between the two countries. The case is the largest steel trade dispute in U.S. history and will impact about $2.7 billion worth of Chinese imports. The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to impose duties between 10.36 percent and 15.78 percent on the pipes, which are mostly used in the oil and gas industries. The duties are intended to offset government subsidies that the U.S. government says China is providing its steelmakers. The move is in response to a complaint filed in April by U.S. Steel and six other steel manufacturers, as well as the United Steelworkers' union.

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