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NEW YORK — US and European stocks advanced on Friday on optimism over the chances of an EU economic stimulus plan and fresh hopes for coronavirus treatments. 

Traders nonetheless continued to track rising virus infection rates and braced for next week's corporate earnings reports.

In New York, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rocketed to another record, while the Dow and S&P 500 also gained.

The London stock exchange was 0.8 per cent higher at the close, while Frankfurt added 1.2 per cent and Paris was up by 1 per cent.

Investors cheered remarks from the head of German biotech firm BioNTech to the Wall Street Journal that a vaccine candidate would be ready for regulatory review by the end of the year.

Analysts also pointed to a positive announcement from Gilead Sciences about clinical trials on remdesivir, the first drug shown to be relatively effective in treating COVID-19.

On Wall Street, airlines and hotel stocks rallied on Friday, along with petroleum producers — sectors hard-hit by social distancing protocols.

The prospect of a vaccine in the foreseeable future "is the kind of announcement that gives the market a bit of comfort that there is light at the end of this", said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.

On the downside in Asia however, Hong Kong stocks sank 1.8 per cent as a fresh outbreak in the city prompted authorities to reimpose measures including the closure of schools.

'Chop-fest' 

"It's basically been a chop-fest this week," noted markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

Gold, after hitting a near nine-year high earlier this week, eased lower in late exchanges as markets advanced.

The markets have generally displayed a healthy resilience to the rapid spread of the disease around the world, with hopes for economic recovery, easing of lockdowns and government largesse providing crucial support.

"COVID-19 case numbers will need to be monitored but the market seems to have developed a degree of herd immunity to these, at least in terms of headline risk," Wilson remarked. 

In Brussels, EU Council president Charles Michel on Friday proposed setting up a 5 billion euro ($5.7 billion) reserve fund for unforeseen consequences of Brexit on bloc member states.

Analysts at the Dutch bank ING also noted that reticent EU members, not least the Netherlands, might "take steps towards a compromise on the EU recovery fund".

LONDON — UK pharmacy giant Boots on Thursday said it will cut more than 4,000 jobs after the country's coronavirus lockdown slashed sales, especially affecting its opticians.

US-owned Boots said it planned "significant restructuring across its head office, store teams and opticians... resulting in a reduction of its headcount of more than 4,000 and the closure of 48 Boots Opticians stores".

Boots UK managing director Sebastian James said cutting the workforce by seven per cent would allow the pharmacy "to continue its vital role as part of the UK health system, and ensure profitable long-term growth.

"In doing this, we are building a stronger and more modern Boots for our customers, patients and colleagues," he added.

Boots meanwhile said that COVID-19 had "accelerated the shift by consumers towards digital channels and online shopping".

Parent group Walgreens Boots Alliance said in a separate statement that the sales impact from COVID-19 was as much as $750 million in its third quarter, or three months to the end of May.

"This reflected a dramatic reduction in footfall in Boots UK stores -- down 85 per cent in April -- as consumers were advised to leave home only for food and medicine," the statement said.

"While most Boots stores remained open throughout the UK lockdown to provide communities with pharmacy and essential healthcare, our largest premium beauty and fragrance counters were effectively closed" along with almost all 600 opticians, it added.

VILNIUS — With several countries pushing forward to introduce digital currencies, eurozone member Lithuania rolled out Thursday an electronic collector coin as a pilot project to get some real experience with virtual money.

"LBCOIN" can be purchased on the Bank of Lithuania's e-shop by collectors from Thursday and will be issued on July 23, Lithuania's central bank said in a statement.

It consists of digital tokens which can be traded in for a credit card-shaped silver coin worth 19.18 euros -- the year of Lithuania's declaration of independence.

The coin will have legal tender status similar to other euro collector coins but the Bank of Lithuania said its use as a means of payment "will not be encouraged".

Nevertheless, the issuance of 24,000 digital tokens and 4,000 physical collector coins will hopefully provide some valuable insights.

"One of the key elements is to test this coin from the point of view of cyber security," Marius Jurgilas, a board member of the Bank of Lithuania, told reporters.

The Bank for International Settlements, which brings world central banks together, said last month the coronavirus crisis is likely to speed up the development of state-backed digital currencies as the demand for electronic retail payments has boomed.

Facebook's ambitious digital money initiative -- Libra -- which is tentatively scheduled to launch later this year, has spurred countries to take another look at creating their own electronic money despite security issues that bitcoin and others have experienced. 

LONDON — Chinese telecoms giant Huawei urged Britain on Wednesday not to rush into taking any costly decision to phase out its equipment from the UK’s 5G network because of US sanctions.

The plea followed reports of Prime Minister Boris Johnson receiving a security agency reassessment about the long-term safety of Huawei.

The British review was triggered by US sanctions in February that blocked Huawei’s access to US chips and semi-conductors at the heart of 5G networks.

Johnson’s government allowed Huawei to roll out up to 35 per cent of Britain’s 5G network under the condition that it stays out of “core” elements dealing with personal data.

But the new sanctions raised the possibility of Huawei having to switch from trusted US suppliers to alternatives whose safety could not be guaranteed by UK security agencies.

Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang said the long-term impact of the US sanctions will take months to fully understand.

“We urge the UK government to take more time,” Zhang told a conference call.

“What we are talking about is the long-term impact. It takes time. It takes months to understand.”

Zhang said any decision to simply cut Huawei out of the speedy new network’s development could delay nationwide 5G access for up to 18 months.

He estimated that a two-year delay would cost the UK economy £29 billion ($35.8 billion, 31.8 billion euros).

“The decision will impact the future of Britain’s digital strategy and Britain’s digital economy — it is so important,” Zhang said.

Broadband pledge 

Johnson is coming under growing political pressure to dump Huawei. But Johnson pledged last year to bring broadband access to all Britons by 2025.

Huawei equipment is already ubiquitous in Britain’s older-generation 3G and 4G networks.

The Chinese company argues that 5G will become even more important as the world switches to home working because of the new coronavirus.

British telecoms companies have warned that stripping out all existing Huawei equipment could cost them billions and take years to implement.

It could also undermine Johnson’s “full fibre for all” pledge.

Zhang said Huawei wanted to work with British telecoms providers and come up with safe alternatives to US equipment that could allay security concerns.

“We want to be clear that we will work to address any restrictions imposed on us,” Zhang said.

He stressed that existing networks would not be affected by sanctions because their development is planned years in advance.

Huawei also has equipment stockpiles designed to cover immediate needs.

He made an indirect reference to Johnson’s broadband access pledge.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Britain to take the lead in 5G,” Zhang said.

GENEVA — Six candidates are vying to become the next head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) — an institution which faced mammoth challenges even before the pandemic-driven global economic crisis struck.

The window to enter the race slams shut on Wednesday, in a speeded-up contest to replace the outgoing WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo — the Brazilian career diplomat who is stepping down one year early at the end of August.

The six candidates in the running are from Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria and South Korea.

The new chief must revive stalled trade talks, lay the ground for the 2021 ministerial conference — one of the WTO's major events — and thaw relations with Washington.

The United States, which has threatened to leave the WTO, has blocked the organisation's dispute settlement appeal system since December, and wants China moved up from the developing economies category.

In a surprise move in mid-May, Azevedo, 62, announced that he would end his second four-year term early for personal reasons, forcing the Geneva-based WTO's 164 member states to come up with a successor in just three months instead of the usual nine.

Rather than an election, the procedure for selecting the next WTO boss relies on finding consensus, with candidates gradually being eliminated in turn.

A vote is possible as a measure of last resort, but that scenario has never occurred.

In 1999, when countries could not decide between two runners, both candidates each served a three-year term.

The next incumbent faces a tough task, with the WTO caught in the middle of rising tensions between the United States and China.

"If the process of choosing the next director general is heavily politicised, that could block things up," a diplomatic source told AFP.

If a consensus cannot be reached in time, one of the four deputy directors general will take the reins in September on a caretaker basis.

 First African WTO boss? 

The six candidates are South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee; Kenya's former foreign minister Amina Mohamed; Mexico's former WTO deputy director general Jesus Seade Kuri; former Nigerian foreign and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Egyptian former diplomat Hamid Mamdouh; and former Moldovan foreign minister Tudor Ulianovschi.

Of the directors general since the WTO was created in 1995, three were from Europe, while one each came from Oceania, Asia and South America.

There has never been a WTO leader from Africa and the continent fancies its chances this time, even though there is no regional rotation principle at the global trade body.

However, African nations have so far failed to convene around a single candidate. 

Expecting the contest to come in 2021, the African Union had given early official backing to three figures, among them Mamdouh, a veteran former senior WTO official.

Mamdouh, 67, who is also a Swiss national, was the only one to declare his candidacy.

Nigeria's decision to stand Okonjo-Iweala against him has triggered a legal dispute with the African Union.

Nonetheless, "Nigeria's candidate is gaining ground within Africa," said a diplomatic source.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, who chairs the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said she was receiving "tremendous support".

"I'm sure the African Union will make a decision to choose and support the candidate that merits it," she told reporters in Geneva at a virtual press conference in late June.

The former World Bank number two insisted that the WTO — which has never had a female leader — must choose is next chief based on ability.

"I hope that the WTO director general will be elected first and foremost on merit. And then, if it happens to be a woman or an African, that is also good," she said.

Kenya's sports minister Mohamed, 58, has also previously served as chair of the WTO general council and first ran for the post in 2013. She threw her hat in the ring just before nominations closed, meaning there are three women and three Africans in the contest.

Yoo, 53, is the other female candidate.

The youngest contender is 37-year-old Ulianovschi, while Seade, at 73, is the oldest. He has led posts at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

SEOUL — Samsung Electronics forecast a 23-per cent rise in second-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, with strong demand for memory chips and displays overcoming the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on smartphone sales.

The smartphone and memory chip maker said in an earnings estimate that it expected operating profit to be 8.1 trillion won ($6.8 billion) for April-June, up from 6.6 trillion won in the same period last year.

The prediction was far ahead of analyst forecasts of a single-digit decline.

Lockdowns imposed around the world in the face of the coronavirus pandemic — especially in Europe and the United States — have boosted Samsung's chip business with data centres moving to stockpile DRAM chips to meet surging demand for online activities.

"The earnings surprise seems to have stemmed from Samsung's memory chip sector," said Park Jin-suk of market observer Counterpoint, pointing to "increased demand for memory chips for PCs and a continuing rise in DRAM chip prices".

Similarly TV sales, which have been on a long-term decline, were "moving upward as people spend more time at home", said James Kang, an analyst at market observer Euromonitor International Korea.

Samsung attributed the estimated operating profits rise to a one-off profit generated from its display division, without offering details.

The company predicted overall sales in the second quarter would be down by 7.3 per cent from a year earlier.

The firm is the world's largest smartphone maker, accounting for 20 per cent of global market share in the first quarter — ahead of China's Huawei with 17 per cent and Apple on 14 per cent — according to Counterpoint.

Global smartphone sales slumped more than 20 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, their worst performance ever, according to market tracker Gartner, as the pandemic hit consumer spending and sparked widespread economic uncertainty.

Border boost 

Looking forward, analysts expect the firm's smartphone and television businesses to improve, with mobile sales growing as restrictions are lifted in some parts of the world.

Smartphone "sales in the US and Europe showed signs of improvement from late in second quarter", said Park.

"Going into the third quarter, we expect the sales figure to rise," he added, predicting smartphone sales in the "low 70 millions" for July-September.

A recent military brawl between India and China also could play in Samsung's favour, Kang said, if Indian consumers choose Samsung devices over Chinese brands amid heightened nationalistic sentiment against Beijing.

Despite the positive forecast, Samsung Electronics shares closed down 2.9 per cent on Tuesday, leaving them nearly 15 per cent off January's record high.

LG Electronics, South Korea's second largest appliance firm after Samsung, forecast second-quarter operating profits would plunge 24.4 per cent year on year to 493.1 billion won.

Its shares closed down 3.8 per cent.

Samsung Electronics is crucial to South Korea's economic health.

It is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung group — by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates known as chaebols that dominate business in the world's 12th-largest economy.

Its overall turnover is equivalent to a fifth of the national gross domestic product.

Samsung withholds net profit and sector-by-sector business performance data until it releases its final earnings report, expected later this month.

WASHINGTON — Five more US air carriers including Delta Air Lines and United Airlines will take out loans under the CARES Act stimulus package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday.

The decision means most major US air carriers have agreed to accept financing from the $2.2 trillion measure passed in late March to blunt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We welcome the news that Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines have now also signed letters of intent," Mnuchin said in a statement.

The CARES Act provided for $25 billion to be lent to airlines. 

While carriers were initially hesitant to take the money for fear of draconian conditions, Treasury announced last week that American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Sky West Airlines and Spirit Airlines agreed to the government's terms.

Treasury did not specify the amount each airline was receiving, saying only that it required borrowers to provide warrants, which are financial instruments that can be converted into shares, or other forms of debt or equity.

Borrowers must also comply with conditions like maintaining employment and not paying employees above set levels, along with temporarily suspending the payment of dividends and share buybacks.

The loans are on top of another $25 billion package paid out by the government in exchange for a commitment by the airlines not to cut jobs until after September 30.

Last week, American Airlines said it had signed a letter of intent with the Treasury for a $4.75 billion loan, but company executives warned in a letter that they expected to have 20,000 more employees than necessary by the fall.

LONDON — China’s ambassador to Britain on Monday warned that London faced a risk to its international reputation if it blocked Huawei from the nation’s 5G network.

The Financial Times (FT) said the government will decide this month to phase out the Chinese technology giant’s equipment.

A UK security investigation, yet to be published, has raised “very, very serious” questions over Huawei’s limited 5G role in Britain, the financial daily added.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said separately he had received the National Cyber Security Centre report and there would be a “significant” impact on Huawei’s 5G role.

But Beijing’s top envoy in London, Liu Xiaoming, described Huawei’s involvement as a “win-win” for both the company and UK-China relations.

“We have tried our best to tell the story of Huawei but we can’t control the British government decision,” he told a news conference.

However, he warned that if Huawei was rejected, it could impact Britain’s international standing and erode the trust of other existing or potential overseas investors.

He suggested it would be an example of Britain succumbing to “foreign pressure”, in a clear reference to Washington’s position on Huawei. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under intense pressure from the US, and members of his own ruling Conservative Party, to cut ties with Huawei.

US officials argue that the company could spy on Western communications or simply shut down the UK network under orders from Beijing — a charge the company denies.

Huawei’s position has been complicated further by Washington’s decision to roll out a new wave of sanctions to cripple the company’s production of the chips used in 5G.

The FT said Johnson was drawing up plans to remove the Huawei technology from Britain’s 5G network after warnings that the US sanctions could curtail the company’s access to American semiconductors and force it to use riskier supplies.

Ambassador Liu rejected claims China was a “hostile country”.

“We want to be your friend, we want to be your partner but if you want to make China a hostile country you have to bear the consequences,” he added.