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NEW YORK, Jan 26 — Strong earnings from Intel and other companies drove Wall Street indexes to record closing highs on Friday, while the US dollar remained weak after recent comments by the US Treasury secretary.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.2 per cent, its biggest daily percentage gain since March 1. The S&P and the two other main indexes all notched their best four-week runs since 2016.

Stocks around the globe also rose. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, climbed for a 10th straight week, its longest weekly winning streak since 1999.

Shares of Intel Corp. jumped more than 10 per cent and hit their highest level since October 2000 a day after the company reported quarterly results. 

The results of Intel and some other companies helped investors shrug off weaker-than-expected US economic growth data. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 per cent annual rate, the Commerce Department reported.

Shares of drugmaker AbbVie Inc. also climbed 10 per cent after the company significantly boosted its 2018 earnings forecast and said it hopes to accelerate dividend growth and share buybacks.

"We continue to see these positive steps in the right direction and definitely earnings are clearly justifying a lot of the recent move that we've had," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fourth-quarter earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now estimated at 13.2 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters data, up from 12 per cent at the start of the year. 

Also helping equities, the US dollar remained weak against a basket of major currencies, still bruised by comments earlier this week by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in support of a weak dollar and following Friday's US growth data.

President Donald Trump's comments on Thursday in favour of a "strong dollar," a day after Mnuchin said a weaker greenback would help US trade balances in the short term, failed to keep dollar bears in check.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.33 per cent at 89.1 and on track for a weekly fall of 1.6 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 223.92 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 26,616.71, the S&P 500 gained 33.62 points, or 1.18 per cent, to 2,872.87, and the Nasdaq Composite added 94.61 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 7,505.77.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.54 per cent, and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.67 per cent. For the week, the MSCI index was up 2 per cent.

In a weekly note on capital flows, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said that 98 per cent of global equity markets are now trading above 50- and 200-day moving averages, though the pace of the melt-up meant a correction was increasingly likely.

World equity markets have rallied over the past year, buoyed by a synchronised uptick in global economic growth in a boon to corporate profits and stock valuations.

US Treasury yields climbed after the US GDP data and after the governor of the Bank of Japan said inflation is finally close to reaching the central bank's 2 per cent target.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 11/32 in price to yield 2.6599 per cent, from 2.621 per cent late on Thursday.

In the energy market, oil prices settled higher, with crude also posting a weekly gain as the weaker dollar underpinned prices.

Brent crude futures settled up 10 cents, or 0.1 per cent, at $70.52 per barrel, while US crude futures closed at $66.14, up 63 cents, or nearly 1 per cent. For the week, Brent posted a nearly 2.7 per cent gain, while US crude was up 4.3 per cent for the week.

Gold also rose with the dollar's decline. Spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at $1,351.86, up 1.5 per cent this week.

LONDON — The euro briefly shot past $1.25 to a three-year high on Thursday, after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said the central bank did not target foreign exchange rates when asked about the strength of the single currency.

An upbeat tone on the economy and the medium-term outlook for inflation helped send bond yields in Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, to their highest level in around six months.

Speaking at a press conference following an ECB meeting, Draghi said that recent currency volatility was a source of uncertainty but he did not express outright unease with the euro's strength. 

The euro surged to $1.2538, its highest level since December 2014, before slipping back to trade at $1.2498, up 0.7 per cent. The single currency was flat before Draghi started speaking. 

With the euro touching a series of 3-year highs in recent days, some traders were expecting Draghi to talk down the single currency, given its rise could squeeze the competitiveness of eurozone exporters down the line and pull down inflation. 

On a trade-weighted basis, the euro's rise is far less marked, however. 

"Euro [has broken] higher on no verbal intervention," said Mizuho's head of hedge fund FX sales, Neil Jones. "We were looking for it but we didn't get it. It appears Mnuchin's comments were more verbal intervention than Draghi's."

Draghi said the ECB might have to review strategy if US comments on a weak dollar lead to a change in monetary conditions.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that he welcomed the weaker dollar because it was "good for us". His remarks extended the US currency's recent slide.

The euro is now up 4 per cent against the dollar in 2018, and 7.2 per cent over the last six months. 

Europe's single currency also rose as much as 0.4 per cent against sterling after earlier trading flat. 

Bond yields jump

Analysts said that Draghi not talking down the euro, as well as positive comments on the economy, sparked a sell-off in government bonds.

"What is striking is that he's trying his best to push out rate hike expectations but the market appears to be ignoring that," said Kim Liu, senior fixed income strategist at ABN AMRO.

German government bond yields rose to their highest levels in around six months, reversing early falls. The German 10-year Bund yield rose as high as 0.579 per cent and was set for its biggest one-day rise in two weeks.

Two-year bond yields hit minus 0.56 per cent. 

French 10-year bond yields also attained a 6-month high around 0.9270 per cent, while 10-year borrowing costs across the euro area were 2-5 basis points higher on the day. 

Spain's 10-year bond yield was up 5 basis points, set for its biggest daily jump in over a month.

Mizuho rates strategist Antoine Bouvet said the sell-off in bonds was also caused by Draghi's emphasis on the size of the central bank's balance sheet, which was supportive for the economy, rather than its asset purchase flows. 

BRUSSELS — The EU on Wednesday hit US chipmaking giant Qualcomm with an antitrust fine of 997 million euros ($1.2 billion) for paying Apple to use its chips exclusively in iPhones and iPads.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that by striking the agreement with Apple in 2011 Qualcomm had "abused its market dominance" to unfairly shut out rivals such as Intel, denying choice to consumers.

The fine is the latest blow struck by the EU against US tech giants and also a fresh hit for Qualcomm, the leading global supplier of smartphone chips, following another antitrust fine of $800 million imposed by authorities in Taiwan last year.

"Qualcomm cemented its position by illegally shutting out rivals from the market for over five years," Vestager told a press conference.

"Between 2011 and 2016 Qualcomm paid billions of US dollars to a key customer, Apple, and the payment was to prevent Apple to buy from rivals", Vestager said.

"This meant that no rival could effectively challenge Qualcomm in this market, no matter how good their products were."

Qualcomm said it would appeal against the ruling.

"We are confident this agreement did not violate EU competition rules or adversely affect market competition or European consumers," Qualcomm's Don Rosenberg said in a statement.

'Choice and innovation' hampered 

The deal involved so-called chipsets that enable smartphones to send and receive voice calls and data over cell networks. 

The Danish commissioner said that Qualcomm had "denied consumers and other companies more choice and innovation".

Vestager said the EU's two-and-a-half year probe uncovered internal Apple documents showing it was "seriously thinking about switching" to Qualcomm's rival Intel on several occasions.

"This would have made a big difference to Intel. Apple is one of the largest makers of smartphones and tablets in the world. In the end Apple decided not to make the change," Vestager said.

The level of the fine, which amounts to 4.9 per cent of Qualcomm's turnover in 2017, "takes account of the duration and gravity of the infringement, and is aimed at deterring market players from engaging in such anti-competitive practices in the future," the commission said.

Qualcomm and Apple are currently entangled in a bitter legal dispute over patents and royalties, though Vestager said she did not expect Wednesday's ruling to have an impact on this.

"This is a well framed matter and it has nothing to do with IP [intellectual property], it has to do with misuse of dominant position and exclusivity payments, so it's a completely different line of thinking," Vestager said.

The iPhone manufacturer filed a US lawsuit in January 2017 accusing Qualcomm of abusing its market power for certain mobile chipsets to demand unfair royalties.

The EU has turned the screw on US tech giants recently, ordering Apple in 2016 to repay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland, and hitting Google with a record 2.4-billion-euro fine in June last year for illegally favouring its shopping service in search results. 

CAIRO — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared Egypt's economic outlook "favourable" on Tuesday after completing its second review of the country's reform programme.

The IMF had approved in November 2016 a $12-billion loan to Egypt, which has been shaken by political and economic turmoil since longtime president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in the 2011 revolt.

In order to obtain the IMF's approval for the three-year loan, Cairo has implemented a set of drastic reforms including the adoption of a value-added tax, energy subsidy cuts and floating the pound.

"The reforms that have been undertaken so far have been well-implemented and we are beginning to see the pay-off from these reforms," said Subir Lall, head of the IMF's mission for Egypt.

"We think that the reform programme and the reform momentum should remain in place," Lall told reporters in an online briefing.

The IMF disperses tranches of the loan to Egypt based on periodic reviews of the programme.

In December, it approved a third tranche worth $2 billion, bringing the total released to date to just over $6 billion.

In the report released on Tuesday, the IMF said Egypt's economy grew 4.2 per cent in the year to June 2017, up from 3.5 per cent the previous year.

Gross domestic product was expected to expand by 4.8 per cent in the current financial year and by 6 per cent in the medium term, it said.

Egypt's inflation rate has started to moderate thanks to tighter monetary policy since peaking in July at 35 per cent, after authorities implemented reforms sought by the IMF.

It is expected to fall to around 12 per cent by June, and to single digits 2019, the IMF said.

The pound's devaluation saw the Egyptian currency lose about half its value, a factor that also caused inflationary pressure.

The IMF report said "strengthening social protection will also be important to shield the most vulnerable."

"The social aspect of these reforms has made strong efforts to shield the most vulnerable from the cost of up-front macroeconomic stabilisation and those were unavoidable costs," said Lall. 

WASHINGTON — Global economies are recovering simultaneously and at a stronger than expected pace, and will get at least a short-term boost from the US tax cuts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.

In the latest update to the IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO), nearly all the forecasts for 2018 and 2019 were revised upward compared to the October edition.

However, the fund warned that exuberant financial markets could be due for a reversal.

The global economy is now expected to grow 3.9 per cent this year and next, two-tenths higher than the previous estimate, and up from growth of 3.7 per cent in 2017.

Advanced economies are seeing solid, simultaneous growth, and the US tax reform passed in December will have a measurable effect, at least for a couple of years.

"The revision reflects increased global growth momentum and the expected impact of the recently approved US tax policy changes," the IMF said.

120 nations see pickup 

"Some 120 economies, accounting for three-quarters of world GDP, have seen a pickup in growth in year-on-year terms in 2017, the broadest synchronised global growth upsurge since 2010."

The WEO upgraded its US Gross Domestic Product forecast by a surprising four-tenths of a point this year to 2.7 per cent, compared to the expected 2.3 per cent in 2017.

For 2019, the IMF increased its US growth forecast a whopping 0.6 points from October, to 2.5 per cent.

Corporate tax cuts are seen driving investment, which could add growth of 1.2 per cent to the US economy through 2020, while also contributing to faster expansion in US trading partners like Mexico, the fund said.

ADEN — Yemen's cash-strapped government on Sunday released its first official budget since the Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and following a bailout from ally Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Dagher said spending in the 2018 budget is projected at 1.5 trillion Yemeni riyals ($3.9 billion), with revenues estimated at 978 billion riyals ($2.6 billion).

The Aden-based government projected a deficit of $1.3 billion, based on the official exchange rate of 380 riyals to the dollar — higher than the market rate of about 450 riyals to the dollar.

In a post on Facebook, the prime minister painted a devastating picture of the country's economy, saying that oil and gas production — the main source of revenue before the war — had ground to a halt and that $5 billion in foreign reserves and stocks of the local currency had been "looted" by rebels who maintain a separate central bank in Sanaa. 

Bin Dagher did not offer details on revenue sources for the budget but it comes on the heels of a bailout by Saudi Arabia, the main backer of the internationally recognised government. The prime minister vowed "optimal use" of Saudi Arabia's $2 billion deposit to the central bank, which has buoyed the local currency in recent days, and said the new "austerity budget" would nonetheless guarantee wages for civil servants and the military. 

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 with the stated aim of rolling back Houthi rebel gains and restoring the country's "legitimate" government to power.

More than one million civil servants lost their jobs in 2016, when President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi moved the central bank from rebel-held Sanaa to Aden.

For more than a year, the government has been unable to pay salaries and the riyal dropped sharply against the dollar, leaving Yemenis unable to afford food staples and bottled water.

The Yemen conflict has left more than three-quarters of the population in need of humanitarian aid and 8.4 million at risk of famine, according to the United Nations. 

LONDON — Sterling climbed above $1.39 on Thursday for the first time since Britain's vote to leave the European Union and was on track for a fifth consecutive week of gains against the US currency — its longest winning streak since mid-2014. 

The pound has been buoyed by a combination of broad dollar weakness and optimism that Britain will reach a favourable divorce deal with the EU and that the economy will continue to grow at a healthy clip — albeit more slowly that if there had been no Brexit vote.

Sterling has climbed more than 5 per cent against the dollar over the past two months, helped by Britain's success in late December in securing a deal to move exit talks on to discussions over a transition period and post-Brexit trade. 

The pound jumped to as high as $1.3942 in New York trading on Wednesday before easing back by the end of the day. On Thursday, it rebounded half a per cent to trade at $1.3903. 

Japanese bank MUFG says it sees sterling trading around $1.47 by the end of the year.

"We have a bullish view on the pound," said the bank's chief macro strategist in London, Derek Halpenny. 

"Once a transition period for Brexit is confirmed, that takes off the cliff-edge risk of March 29 [2019, the date Britain is due to officially leave the EU] and paves the way for two rate hikes from the BoE [Bank of England]," he added.

Sterling has in recent sessions been supported by a sell-off in the dollar and more positive noises from Europe over negotiations with Britain over the terms of its departure from the trading bloc. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday offered France £44.5 million ($62 million) to bolster security at French border controls, part of measures to deepen cooperation that she hopes will foster goodwill in Brexit talks.

With the improved outlook for those discussions, traders said sterling had been able to anchor itself again to the domestic story, where the economy is proving more resilient than expected.

"It seems the Brexit negotiations are starting to pan out. Some of the political uncertainties in the UK are starting to fade. It's turning into a bit of a momentum rally," said Martin Arnold, macro strategist at ETF Securities.

Against the euro, which has rallied in recent weeks, the pound was flat at 88.12 pence per euro. 

Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders said on Wednesday that British unemployment was likely to fall further than most economists expected this year, pushing pay growth higher.

While he stuck close to BoE language that any interest rate rises would be "limited and gradual", some analysts believe the bank will be forced to tighten monetary policy faster if inflation fails to fall as predicted.

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.