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PARIS — Emirates Airlines on Thursday said it has struck a $16 billion deal to buy 36 Airbus A380 superjumbos just days after the European manufacturer said it would have to halt production without new orders.

The company said it had placed firm orders for 20 of the double-decker aircraft with options for a further 16. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2020.

Emirates is already the world's biggest customer for the A380 with 101 in its fleet and 41 more firm orders previously placed.

"This order will provide stability to the A380 production line," the airline's Chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.

"We've made no secret of the fact that the A380 has been a success for Emirates," he said in a statement. 

"Our customers love it, and we've been able to deploy it on different missions across our network, giving us flexibility in terms of range and passenger mix."

The Dubai-based airline said that with the new order it will have commitments for a total of 178 A380s worth $60 billion.

The deal was expected to be signed during the Dubai Airshow in November but was delayed without any explanation amid reports of tough negotiations.

Instead, Emirates inked a deal to buy 40 Boeing Dreamliners for more than $15 billion.

Airbus' decision in 2007 to pursue the A380, capable of packing in 853 seats, was diametrically opposed to Boeing's bet on the Dreamliner, marketed as a more efficient plane that could be used for both medium and long-distance flights.

But the economics of the four-engine A380 have proved daunting, with airlines having to operate every flight at full capacity in order to make a profit.

 'It buys Airbus time' 

Airbus warned on Monday that it might have to end production of the A380, having booked no new orders for the plane in two years.

It said it regarded Emirates as the only airline with the capacity to place an order of the size required to keep production going.

"Quite honestly, if we can't work out a deal with Emirates there is no choice but to shut down the programme," Airbus sales director John Leahy said Monday.

The company said it needed to build at least six of the aircraft per year for the programme to remain viable.

On Thursday, Leahy seemed relieved that Airbus' strategy of staring down Emirates appeared to have paid off, saying the programme was now good to go on for at least another decade.

"This new order underscores Airbus' commitment to produce the A380 at least for another ten years. I'm personally convinced more orders will follow Emirates' example and that this great aircraft will be built well into the 2030s," Leahy said.

Airbus is hoping China will lead a revival in orders once demand for long-haul planes picks up, arguing that the plane is ideally suited for mass-market travel and for heavily congested airports.

Emirates operates a fleet of 269 wide-bodied aircraft and flies to 157 destinations.

Airbus said it has delivered 222 A380s to 13 airlines so far.

Stock market investors welcomed the news of the order, pushing Airbus shares more than 2 per cent higher on the Paris bourse in mid-session business.

Calling the deal "a relief for Airbus", independent commercial aviation expert John Strickland said it probably saved the A-380 programme.

"Without it, production would likely have been terminated," Strickland said.

"It is not a guarantee of financial success for the programme but buys Airbus time to go out and secure additional orders from other airlines," he said.

Beijing - China is preparing for a new crackdown on cryptocurrency, planning to stamp out remaining trading in the country, according to state media.

China will gradually clean up over-the-counter trading platforms, peer-to-peer networks where large exchanges occur and firms registered in the country which allow Chinese to trade overseas, the state-run Securities Journal said Tuesday.

The publication cited an anonymous source close to regulators tackling online finance risks.

The new plan follows China's crackdown on cryptocurrency trading last year, which saw Beijing shut down bitcoin exchanges and ban all initial coin offerings.

But alternative channels for trading cryptocurrencies have popped up, including on social networks like WeChat, QQ and Telegram.

Those online groups facilitating large-scale peer-to-peer trade appear likely to suffer greater scrutiny in the coming months.

The international value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has plunged in recent days amid fears of a crackdown in Asia and concerns that many currencies' rapid rise in value last year could reflect an inflating bubble.

At one point on Wednesday, the price of bitcoin on some exchanges had tumbled more than 20 percent, falling below the $10,000 mark that the currency broke through in November of last year.

The market movements come just one month after the most valuable cryptocurrency bitcoin broke through the $20,000 mark in December.

LONDON — Wall Street returned from a long holiday weekend to set new records amid solid corporate earnings reports and optimism for profits in 2018 due to a US tax reform.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 per cent in initial trades to rise for the first time above the 26,000 mark. It later gave up some of those gains.

"American markets were shut yesterday as the US celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and they are making up for lost ground today," said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

"The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 have all reached new record highs today, although we have seen a pullback," he added.

Citigroup shares climbed 1.1 per cent as, while taking a $22 billion charge due to changes in tax rules that pushed it into a loss of $18.3 billion for the quarter.

Without the tax charge, earnings were higher than in the same period last year, and the bank said it should benefit from changes to the tax law going forward.

Eurozone stock markets rose on the coattails of Asia, while London slid as thanks to heavyweight energy and mining stocks.

London's FTSE 100 still flirted briefly with new all-time high, however, as sterling dropped on official data showing that UK annual inflation pulled back in December from a near six-year peak.

But by the afternoon it was trading down and closed 0.2 per cent lower.

The euro meanwhile came off a three-year high versus the dollar struck on Monday, while oil futures retreated also from their highest levels since 2015 that were reached at the start of the week.

That helped eurozone stocks advance, with the CAC 40 index in Paris adding 0.07 per cent and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt climbing 0.4 per cent.

The euro is "finally seeing some weakness after its remarkable bounce of late", said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group. 

He noted also that "sterling's impressive rally over the past nine months has helped cool imported inflation" into the UK, in turn lessening the prospect of further rate tightening from the Bank of England. 

"Perhaps they won't have to raise rates this year after all, although one reading does not constitute a trend," added Beauchamp after UK annual inflation dipped to 3 per cent from 3.1 per cent.

TOKYO — Shares in Japan's SoftBank Group soared six per cent on Monday on reports it could list its mobile unit, raising up to $18 billion in one of the country's biggest public offerings.

In a statement, SoftBank Group insisted no decision had been made, but acknowledged the listing was an "option".

"We are always studying various capital strategy options," the company said.

"The listing of SoftBank Corp. shares is one such option, but no decision has been made to officially proceed with this course."

The Nikkei economic daily, which first reported the plan, said the listing could bring in 2 trillion yen ($18 billion), one of the largest initial public offerings ever for a Japanese company.

The report sent SoftBank shares up nearly 6 per cent at the market's open, though they later settled up 4 per cent.

The Nikkei said SoftBank hopes to apply to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in spring and begin trading on the bourse around autumn, offering around 30 per cent of the shares in its subsidiary up to investors.

It is hoping for an overseas debut at the same time, possibly in London, the daily added.

SoftBank Group has been aggressively investing in technology ventures under its flamboyant leader, Masayoshi Son.

In 2016, it announced the creation of its massive Vision Fund — a venture capital fund worth nearly $100 billion, set up with Saudi Arabia's government and other investors.

In December, SoftBank announced it was acquiring a large stake in the ridesharing giant Uber.

Sources said it was acquiring 15 per cent of the company in a deal totalling $7.7 billion.

The Nikkei said the listing plans would further consolidate SoftBank Group's status as an investment company and give its subsidiary greater autonomy.

The listing could rival the record 2.2 trillion yen that formerly state-run Nippon Telegraph and Telephone raised in 1987.

NEW YORK — The US dollar fell to a more than three-year low against the euro on Friday, extending recent losses on expectations European Central Bank policymakers are preparing to reduce stimulus, while US stocks continued to rally and marked record closing highs.

Optimism about fourth-quarter earnings boosted stocks. Bank shares climbed following quarterly results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo. A global stock index registered an eighth straight week of gains.

The euro's rise weighed on the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies. The index was down 1 per cent, after slipping to a four-month low of 90.954.

For the year, the dollar index was down 1.28 per cent, its worst performance over a year's first nine trading days since 2010, according to Reuters data. 

"The latest ECB comments were a bit on the hawkish side, so that's giving more life to the euro," said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.

Sterling rocketed to its highest level against the dollar since the Brexit vote to leave the European Union after a report that the Netherlands and Spain were open to a deal for Britain to remain as close as possible to the trading bloc. Sterling was last trading at $1.3731, up 0.03 per cent.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both registered an eighth record closing high out of the first nine trading days of 2018, while the Dow boasted its sixth closing high of the year.

Data showing robust US retail sales drove investor optimism about economic growth, also boosting sentiment in the stock market.

"It seems like the economy is going OK, inflation is kind of nonexistent right now, wage growth is not an issue for most income statements, so what's not to like here?" said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.46 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 25,803.19, the S&P 500 gained 18.68 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 2,786.24, and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.29 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 7,261.06.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.23 per cent, and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.66 per cent.

A robust US inflation report boosted Treasury yields.

The two-year yield, sensitive to traders' views on interest rates, rose to more than 2 per cent for the first time since the financial crisis.

In commodities, oil prices rose for a sixth day after Russia's oil minister said global crude supplies were "not balanced yet", alleviating market concerns about a wind-down of the OPEC-led deal to reduce production.

US crude oil rose 50 cents to settle at $64.30 a barrel, while Brent rose 61 cents to settle at $69.87.

LONDON — The dollar came under fresh selling pressure on Thursday even after China hit back over a "fake news" report that it could slow or halt purchases of US Treasuries. 

The greenback had dived on Wednesday against most rivals as Bloomberg News reported that Chinese authorities reviewing foreign-exchange holdings had recommended the move.

Initially fruitful, the dollar's attempts to recoup the previous day's losses fizzled out by the European mid-afternoon, with the greenback lower against both the euro and sterling.

Earlier, China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange denied the Bloomberg report, saying in a statement: "We think this story could be quoting a mistaken source or it could also be a piece of fake news."

The report however briefly sparked fears on Wednesday that a huge amount of foreign demand for dollars would dry up.

“China has reduced their purchase of US Treasuries was the news which crashed the prices of the US Treasuries and pushed the dollar index lower yesterday," noted analyst Naeem Aslam at trading firm ThinkMarkets.

"But the Chinese officials clearly labelled this as fake news and assured markets that China is only diversifying its options."

China has long invested heavily in US bonds as a way of controlling the value of its own yuan currency and Bloomberg News estimates it currently holds around $1.2 trillion in Treasuries, double what it owned 10 years ago.

"We do know that China is the largest buyer of the US Treasuries, and if there is any reduction in the Chinese appetite for the US Treasuries, it would have serious consequences for the global markets," cautioned Aslam.

Elsewhere on Thursday European stock markets, having opened steady, slipped as the session wore on and after London briefly touched another record high despite retail gloom.

The retail sector was hit by underwhelming Christmas trading updates from supermarket giant Tesco and clothing-to-food chain Marks & Spencer.

"Retail stocks in the UK have been smashed," noted Manulife Asset Management equities analyst Will Hamlyn.

"They are so out of favour at the moment partly due to Brexit, partly due to the weak Christmas season [and] partly due to expected share losses to online" competition.

Wall Street posted gains at the opening bell.

 Oil surge 

Oil prices meanwhile were mixed on Thursday amid falling US stockpiles, unrest in key producer Iran and hopes that Trump's tax cuts will boost demand.

In morning London deals, European benchmark Brent hit $69.62 per barrel — the highest level since May 2015, but then eased back to post losses.

Elsewhere, Asian equity markets mostly fell as this year's rally gave way to profit-taking in much of the region.

However, Hong Kong extended a record winning streak to 13 days thanks to inflows of cash from mainland investors.

CAIRO — Egypt’s annual inflation rates dropped in December to their lowest levels since the country floated its pound currency in November 2016, sending prices shooting up. 

Bringing down inflation is key for President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi who has yet to announce his intention to run for a March election, but is expected to win himself another term. 

Urban consumer price inflation eased to 21.9 per cent in December year-on-year from 26 per cent in November, with its month-on-month rate falling to -0.2 per cent, the first time prices decreased since December 2015, according to official data.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile items such as food, fell to 19.86 per cent in December from 25.53 per cent the previous month.

“The drop is positive and supports our expectations of lower inflation ahead, towards our 18 per cent forecast in the first quarter of 2018,” said Hany Farahat, senior economist at CI Capital. 

Inflation reached a record high of 35 per cent in July after energy subsidies were cut in line with reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $12 billion loan, but has gradually eased since then. 

Egypt’s finance minister said on Wednesday he expected the rate to fall below 20 per cent next month and to 10-12 per cent during 2018 before falling below 10 per cent in 2019.

Egypt’s central bank has raised key interest rates by 700 basis points since November 2016 in an attempt to ease soaring inflation.

Economists expect the bank to start cutting rates in coming months as inflationary pressure eases. The central bank’s next monetary policy meeting is on February 15. 

“We expect a 200 basis points cut in interest rates could occur at the MPC meeting on February 15,” said Reham El Desoki, senior economist at Arqaam Capital. 

Desoki expected a hold in the March and May meetings and a hike of 200 basis points in June following further cuts in energy subsidies. 

Egypt hiked fuel prices by up to 50 per cent in June and electricity prices by up to 42 per cent in July in an effort to tighten its spending as part of the three-year IMF deal. Another wave of energy cuts is expected this year as per the recommendation of the IMF. 

Sisi has to balance between pushing with economic reforms to revive an economy hit hard by political turmoil and maintaining support to win the upcoming election.

LONDON — British retailers faced a slowdown in sales over the crucial Christmas trading period, survey data showed on Tuesday, as shoppers were squeezed by higher prices and stagnating wages.

Retail sales rose 1.4 per cent last month from a year earlier, according to a survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and financial group KPMG. That compared with 1.7 per cent expansion in December 2016.

"With inflation outpacing income growth, shoppers continued to see more of their spending power absorbed by essential items, including food, leaving less left over for buying Christmas gifts," said BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.

"That made this year's festive period all the more nail-biting for non-food retailers, many of whom offered deep discounts in the last weeks before Christmas in the hope of something to celebrate".

Capital Economics analyst Finn McLaughlin agreed that consumers simply had less cash to buy goods and services.

"December's BRC retail sales monitor suggested that Christmas trading failed to provide much relief to retailers with spending growth broadly in line with its subdued average over the past year," McLaughlin said.

"The squeeze on real incomes has continued to leave consumers with less room for discretionary purchases."

Workers' wages are still being eroded by Brexit-fuelled inflation, recent official data showed.

Average weekly earnings rose by 2.5 per cent year-on-year in the three-month period to October. That lagged behind Britain's annual inflation rate of 3.1 per cent.

Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, a drop in sterling — making imported goods more expensive — has pushed inflation upwards.

Meanwhile, publication of Tuesday's BRC survey comes as Britain's retailers reveal mixed Christmas fortunes.

Department store Debenhams issued a profits warning last week on poor festive sales, sending its share price tumbling.

However, clothing retailer Next reported rising Christmas sales on the back of a strong online performance.

Britain's biggest retailer, supermarket giant Tesco, and food-to-clothing chain Marks & Spencer publish their Christmas figures on Thursday.

STOCKHOLM -  Denmark's Novo Nordisk, the world's leading insulin manufacturer, announced on Monday an offer to buy the Belgian biotech firm Ablynx for 2.6 billion euros ($3.1 billion).

Novo Nordisk said it made an initial offer in December and then raised it, but that it had been rejected by Ablynx's managment. 

"Novo Nordisk encourages Ablynx's Board of Directors to engage in a negotiated transaction for the benefit of all stakeholders," the Danish firm said in a statement.

The initial offer of 26.75 euros in cash was raised to 28 euros per share in cash plus up to another 2.5 euros per share depending on performance.

Ablynx said in a statement that its board "concluded that the proposal fundamentally undervalues Ablynx and its strong prospects for continued growth".

Ablynx specialises in the development of nanobodies: small fragments of antibodies that like larger antibodies can bind onto the antigens that cause an immune system response.

Novo Nordisk said its strong global haematology franchise would make it able to better develop one of those nanobodies, caplacizumab, which aims to treat a certain type of blood clots.

It called its buyout offer a "compelling opportunity and provides the clearest path to realising full potential of Ablynx's portfolio in the best interests of all stakeholders, including patients and physicians".

The offer is the largest ever by Novo Nordisk for another pharmaceutical firm, according to Bloomberg News. The firm accounts for nearly half of the global market for insulin, but is also present in other sectors such as horomone treatments and drugs to control haemophilia. 

Its shares were down a quarter of a per cent in trading on the Copenhagen stock exchange at 339.1 kronor.

Shares in Ablynx were suspended on Monday morning in Brussels at the request of the market regulator.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's acting attorney general said on Thursday prosecutors were already working to improve investigations and cooperation with other countries following an international report that blasted the country for failing to punish money launderers. 

Alberto Elias Beltran, Mexico's acting attorney general, told Reuters in an interview that the country was seeking to work better with the United States and Colombia to target financial networks of multinational drug gangs. 

Earlier this week, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organisation based in Paris that sets global standards for fighting illicit finance, criticised Mexico for not systematically prosecuting money launderers. 

"There are important findings of opportunities for improvement at the attorney general's office," Elias said, noting in particular the room to improve the quality of money laundering investigations and the seizure of assets. 

The FATF report highlighted that Mexico has been slipping in successful convictions. The country already lagged regional peers such as Colombia and Brazil, both of which have made strides in setting up independent prosecutors.

The report also noted the "low level of effectiveness" in prosecutions and seizures and an "extremely low level of effectiveness" in punishing corruption. 

"We are working with the specialised offices [that target money laundering] where we are strengthening protocols," Elias said, adding that government agencies were also working to implement so-called parallel investigations. 

The FATF report underscored that Mexico was largely failing to carry out parallel money laundering investigations to match probes of organised crime, drug trafficking and corruption. 

The FATF recommends such parallel investigations, and its report on Mexico underscored haphazard, uneven results of current investigations, noting low conviction rates and tiny seizures of assets compared with the amount of illicit proceeds that are generated in Mexico.