The head of the World Food Program said she was hopeful of continued U.S. funding for the organization, despite reports that Washington was mulling heavy cuts in financial support.

Canadian pipeline builder TransCanada announced Thursday it had submitted an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, a controversial project that has been given the green light by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Britain will continue to obey EU rules on negotiating trade deals as long as it remains a full-fledged member of the bloc, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

The comments were made just hours before British Prime Minister Theresa May is to sit down with US President Donald Trump to begin drawing up a free trade deal linking the countries after the UK leaves the European Union.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Friday its net profit plunged 46 percent in 2016 under the weight of restructuring costs and a downturn for its investment bank in difficult market conditions.

Switzerland's largest bank reported its net profits for the year were 3.3 billion Swiss francs (3.09 billion euros, $3.3 billion).

Most Asian markets rose again Friday following another positive lead from Wall Street, with Tokyo boosted by a plunging yen, although traders remain nervous about the outlook for global trade with Donald Trump in the White House.

British Prime Minister Theresa May headed to the United States on Thursday where she will be the first foreign leader to meet President Donald Trump, with post-Brexit trade top of the agenda.

Global stocks rallied higher Thursday after Wall Street bulldozed its way to another record peak, as investors rediscovered their fervor for U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-spending policies, dealers said.

Britain's government on Thursday published a draft law that would authorize Prime Minister Theresa May to begin the procedure for leaving the European Union in an important milestone towards Brexit.

Iraq signed a billion-dollar deal Thursday with U.S. firm General Electric for the construction of two power plants aimed at easing the country's long-running electricity woes, the premier's office said.

Oil markets have already begun to rebalance after strong signs that producers are complying with output cuts, Kuwait Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouk said on Wednesday.

"We are confident that rebalancing in the oil markets has already started," Marzouk said.