Madrid - Spain was stepping up diplomatic activity Thursday in a push to be invited to an economic summit to take place in Washington in mid-November.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was scheduled to travel to the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) in Beijing, where he would meet European leaders and seek their backing for an invitation to the Washington summit, media reported.

Spain was carrying out "intense diplomatic activity on all levels," according to the daily El Pais.

The US has invited only members of the G-8 group - which Spain is not part of - plus developing countries with the largest economies to the summit, dealing with the challenges of the global economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Zurich - Credit Suisse became the first major European bank to unveil its third-quarter earnings Thursday warning that the banking business faced continuing tough conditions after the big Swiss bank confirmed a 1.26 billion Swiss-franc (1.08 billion dollars) quarterly loss.

Unveiling the third quarter results, the chief of Switzerland's second biggest bank Brady Dougan said: "We expect the market environment to remain very challenging and we are cautious with regard to the outlook for the fourth quarter."

Dougan went on to say that the third-quarter result was "clearly disappointing" but "understandable" considering the turmoil that has engulfed financial markets in recent weeks.

The full body of Central Election Commission (CEC) will visit Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh today to review the arrangements for assembly polls there.

Cotabato City, Philippines - An unmanned US spy plane crashed and exploded in a southern Philippine town where government troops were hunting down rogue Muslim rebels, a Catholic priest who witnessed the incident said Thursday.

The plane was flying low and smashed into a telecommunications tower Saturday in Pikit town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Father Eduardo Vazquez said.

"It crashed into the tower at the town proper, and it exploded like a grenade," he said. "The police and the military do not want to talk about it, but many people saw the spy plane."

Vazquez said police immediately recovered the wreckage and turned it over to the military.

More lows overnight; stops drive trade into next technical support. After all is done today the rate is unchanged from US opens. Option barriers reported on the dip but those are cleared. Model accounts seen selling the rate under the 1.2800 area. Official interest noted traders say but rate continued to sell-off.

OK to look to the buy side now; rotation off the lows will likely signal a near-term bottom. Rate is an absolute screaming buy in my view—I can't see further weakness being ignored by the buyers. Oil two-way spills over into pricing and if oil rallies it might take EURO with it. Traders note stops building above the market along with offers.

Follow-on selling surprises to the downside; stops cleared and orders thin. Traders note solid bids but offers remain. Rate at new support level but ranges appears wider. Drop under the 1.6500 handle finds light stops. Monthly lows give way as sentiment won't rally.

Traders note quality bids on the dip suggesting a bottom is in here somewhere. Aggressive traders can buy anytime but expect more whippy action. Follow-on selling likely from technical's but spillover strength from EURO likely to be better to end the week.