(Reuters) - World shares, the euro and oil prices fell on Wednesday as evidence grew of the headwinds facing the global economy, though hopes of policy easing by major central banks limited the falls. Strong demand for safe-haven German debt at a bond auction also signaled that investors remain worried about the implementation of recently agreed measures to help ease the euro zone's debt crisis, with Spanish and Italian bond yields higher.

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(Reuters) - All of Europe's biggest economies are in recession or heading there and there is little sign things will improve soon, surveys showed on Wednesday, backing a growing view the region's major central banks are poised to ease policy this week. Business surveys covering thousands of companies suggested the euro zone economy contracted again between March and June, and that Britain's mild recession extended into a third straight quarter.

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(Reuters) - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim said on Tuesday he has no immediate plans for further telecommunications purchases in Europe after buying into Dutch firm KPN and Telekom Austria. Asked if he was looking to expand further in Europe after the two recent deals, Slim told Reuters: "No, no. We're not looking for nothing now. We are going to consolidate what we've got."

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SÃO CAETANO DO SUL, Brazil (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N), frustrated with years of slipping market share in Brazil, is overhauling half its lineup in order to grow faster than its rapidly multiplying rivals, a senior country executive told Reuters in an interview. After watching its market share slip for nearly a decade as its lineup grew stale, GM launched seven new models in Brazil over the past year, with two more due this year.

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(Reuters) - Fiat (FIA.MI) shares rose 5 percent on Wednesday, bolstered by optimism about the Italian automaker's ability to buy out the remaining 38.2 percent in its U.S. unit Chrysler, which would give it a bigger benefit from a booming U.S. market. Remarks by Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne late on Tuesday indicated that he was ready to pay cash for the remaining stake in Chrysler "at any time".

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday as stronger-than-expected economic data helped lift energy stocks, overshadowing concerns a European Union summit will not yield tangible progress in easing the debt crisis. The energy sector .GSPE showed the strongest gains among the 10 major S&P 500 groups, rising 1.9 percent as oil prices settled higher at $80.21 a barrel. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG.N) jumped 9 percent to $41.24 and was the biggest advancer on the S&P 500.

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(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp's (CHK.N) new independent chairman will receive Chesapeake stock awards valued at $750,000 along with cash compensation that will based on his length of service, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Archie Dunham, former chairman of ConocoPhillips (COP.N), replaced Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon as chairman on Thursday. The company's board stripped McClendon of the title in part due to a governance crisis at the U.S. oil and gas company.

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(Reuters) - Peter Madoff, the brother of imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff, is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges on Friday, the first family member to do so since the Ponzi schemer's fraud was uncovered in December 2008. In a letter filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Peter Madoff is expected to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other crimes, as well as falsifying records. He agreed not to seek a sentence other than 10 years in prison.

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(Reuters) - Pilot union leaders at American Airlines reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday on a steep cost-cutting contract aimed at heading off a threat by management to abandon the current deal in bankruptcy and impose stricter terms. The Allied Pilots Association board agreed to send the last and best offer to its membership for consideration, the union and the company said. The plan was reworked after APA board members rejected a previous proposal.

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(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve would only likely launch another full-on round of bond buying if the economy took a turn for the worse or if Europe's problems flared out of control, a top policymaker said on Wednesday. "I don't think the conditions have developed that require us to bring out bigger guns quite yet," Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in an interview with Nightly Business Report. Lockhart is a voter this year on the central bank's policy-setting panel.

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