Foreign investors sold a record $77.4bn of US Treasuries in December, when broader turmoil in financial markets pushed prices for government debt higher.

Mike Corbat, chief executive of Citigroup, earned $24m in total compensation for 2018, $1m more than the year before. That pay raise, at under 5 per cent, was less than the boosts received by the bosses of other Wall Street banks.

Wall Street notched its third straight week of gains on Friday, with the Nasdaq clawing out of a bear market, as US-China trade talks continued to buoy investor sentiment.

Mattel shares tumbled as much as 19 per cent on Friday after the toy company issued new financial forecasts that disappointed Wall Street, just a week after its well-received 2018 annual results.

President Donald Trump’s declaration of national emergency on Friday failed to dampen investors’ mood, with an averted government shutdown and trade talk optimism keeping US stocks afloat in early afternoon trading.

Two former senior executives of Cognizant, the IT outsourcing company, have been indicted on foreign bribery charges, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday.

Newell Brands surprised investors with an outlook that calls for a decline in sales this year, sending shares down by the most in more than a year, as the bankruptcy of Babies ‘R’ Us continues to weigh on the Graco owner.

US stocks were off to a positive start early on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its fifth gain in six sessions amid continued optimism the US and China can make progress on their protracted trade dispute.

UK property company Segro, which specialises in warehouses, has raised £450m in a placing, taking advantage of booming demand.

US industrial output unexpectedly fell for the first time in eight months and the start of the year, data on Friday showed, as manufacturing declined but cold weather helped boosted demand for utilities.

Authorities in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on Friday arrested eight employees of miner Vale over alleged involvement in the dam burst that last month killed at least 166 people. Another 14 arrest warrants have also been issued.

The euro dipped towards a near two-year low on Friday after a top European Central Bank official floated the possibility of another round of long-term loans to banks and said the eurozone’s slowdown is worse than thought.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York recovered last month from January, when it fell to the lowest level in 20 months.

Royal Bank of Scotland will pay a significantly larger dividend than expected after a strong end to 2018, but warned that the impact of Brexit would make it unlikely to meet some of its longer-term targets.

Trade and tariff concerns have made farmers “more cautious about making major purchases”, US tractor maker Deere said on Friday as it reported quarterly profits that missed analysts’ targets.

A former Goldman Sachs banker alleged to have links to the multibillion-dollar embezzlement scandal at Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB has asked to be sent to the US to face criminal charges, in the latest sign of the international graft probe picking up pace.

Chinese bank lending hit an all-time high last month, in a sign that stimulus measures enacted since the summer are resulting in increased credit flow to the real economy.

Lloyds Banking Group has picked longstanding Morgan Stanley investment banker William Chalmers as its next chief financial officer.

Scout24 said on Friday that it had received a €5.7bn bid from Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone, sending shares in the German online classifieds company up more than 13 per cent in morning trading.

Bargain hunting shoppers helped UK retail sales grow at a faster rate than expected in January, providing some relief after a period of downbeat economic news.

Germany’s financial regulator BaFin is putting closer scrutiny on Deutsche Bank’s role in Danske Bank Estonia and has widened the remit of an independent auditor installed in 2018 at Germany’s largest lender to look into the case.

Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to buy 100 per cent of Sonnen, a German rival to Tesla and Samsung in providing homeowners with lithium-ion battery packs powered by solar energy.

The chief executive of MTN’s Uganda unit was deported on Thursday night following a period of deteriorating relations between the telecommunications group and the national government.

Italy’s Eni almost doubled its operating profits as record oil production and higher crude prices resulted in surging cash flow for the Italian energy company.