International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has urged France and other countries to push through reforms "while the sun is shining" on the global economy.

German inflation slowed slightly in December, but still beat forecasts for the second month in a row, official data showed Friday, in an encouraging sign for the European Central Bank.

The benchmark index of blue-chip shares was boosted once again by strong mining stocks, and closed at 1230 GMT, up 0.9 percent at a new closing high of 7,687.77 points, having earlier reached a new intraday record of 7,697.62.

U.S. banking giant Goldman Sachs said Friday the recently-enacted U.S. tax reform will cut its earnings this year by about $5 billion, mainly because of a tax targeting earnings held abroad.

The tax reform package is expected to "result in a reduction of approximately $5 billion in earnings for the fourth quarter," the company said in a statement. 

Spain will be taken off the EU's red list of budgetary sinners next year, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday. 

Bitcoin fell more than 11 percent after South Korea said on Thursday it would ban anonymous trading of virtual currencies and crack down on money laundering activities using them.

The Philippine central bank said Thursday it accidentally released defective 100-peso bills with the face of a former president left out.

Germany's competition watchdog on Thursday rubbished Lufthansa's claim that recent price hikes on domestic routes were purely down to automated booking software, saying companies shouldn't "hide behind algorithms."

Hundreds took to the streets of Iran's second city Mashhad and other towns on Thursday to protest high prices and unemployment, a reformist media group reported.

A 1939 luxury Mercedes limousine used to carry Adolf Hitler around Germany will be auctioned in the U.S. state of Arizona next month -- one of only four such models ever built.

Powered by a 7.7-liter supercharged engine capable of exceeding 100 mph (160 kph), the Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser -- known to the world as the "Super Mercedes" -- was a potent propaganda symbol of the Third Reich which the Fuhrer rode standing in the front seat.