Global equity markets gave up earlier gains and continued a weeklong sell-off on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a fresh interest rate hike and said “some” further rate hikes would be necessary in the year ahead, Reuters reported. The decision slashed more than 700 points off of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and sent MSCI’s index of global stocks down nearly 0.9 percent for the day. The index is down nearly 13 percent since the start of December due to concerns that global economic growth is slowing.

European Union lawmakers and governments yesterday reached a political agreement on new rules for the money that banks should set aside against possible losses from new loans that turn sour, Reuters reported. The compromise softens an initial proposal by the European Commission, but less than sought by the EU parliament, which accepted a stricter provisioning calendar for banks. The rules are meant to avoid a future build-up of bad loans at banks, which have hampered the EU’s economic recovery after the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Italy’s finance ministry said that it has agreed on a compromise with European Union authorities over the country’s budget deficit, resolving a dispute between Rome’s populist government and EU fiscal enforcers that has vexed financial markets for months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agreement, which wasn’t confirmed yesterday night by the EU executive, the European Commission, would allow Italy to avoid an EU disciplinary procedure for now.

The International Monetary Fund approved a new $3.9 billion bailout program for Ukraine to help stabilize the economy and help the government pay back its debts, according to President Petro Poroshenko, Bloomberg News reported. The board of the Washington-based lender agreed on Tuesday to provide the eastern European country with the first $1.4 billion disbursement. It’s part of the stand-by program which replaces a bailout that suffered long delays as the government failed to implement the reforms necessary to release the cash.

HMV Retail, part of what was once the U.K.’s biggest seller of music and movies, will wind up its stores in Hong Kong after a quarter century as the rise of streaming services from Spotify Technology SA and Netflix Inc. make CDs and DVDs obsolete, Bloomberg News reported. The chain’s owner, HMV Digital China Group Ltd., said yesterday that it appointed liquidators for the unit. The decision came after the music-store chain, known for its logo of a cock-eared dog listening to a gramophone, defaulted on various payments and became insolvent, it said.

Last week, the Swiss Federal Council announced a report on the legal framework for Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for the financial services industry, CrowdfundInsider.com reported. According to the Council, the Swiss legal framework “is well suited to deal with new technologies including blockchain.” Even while noting the benefits of DLT, Council believes there is “an occasional need for adjustment,” including the monitoring and review of the potential for money laundering (AML) and terror financing risk pertaining to the usage of digital assets.

The concessions offered by Italy’s government on its planned budget are on the right track but may not be enough to placate Brussels, the EU’s economy commissioner has warned. “It is a step in the right direction but we are not there yet, there are still steps to be taken, perhaps on both sides,” Pierre Moscovici said on Thursday. Rome has proposed cutting its planned budget deficit for 2019 to 2.04 per cent from 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported.

Mario Draghi, the ECB president, has acknowledged that slower growth lies ahead for the eurozone, reflecting persistently weak data for the region in recent months, the Financial Times reported. The euro gave up its gains for the day and turned negative as Mr Draghi spoke following the end of the central bank’s regular policy meeting on Thursday.