Dubai's DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, said Thursday that a major acquisition and "robust" growth helped its profit to surge 30.7 percent to $883 million in 2015.

Revenues grew 16.3 percent to $3.97 billion, the company said in a statement.

German airline Lufthansa said Thursday it will resume dividend payments to shareholders after profits soared in 2015, helped by low oil prices, and are set to increase again this year.

Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said that despite an "emotionally challenging year" due to the Germanwings air crash and the burden of repeated strike action by pilots and cabin crew, "2015 was a good year in economic terms."

Emerging market currencies soared Thursday with the South Korean won rising at its sharpest rate in four years after the Federal Reserve lowered its forecasts for U.S. interest rate hikes this year.

In a statement following the Fed's latest policy meeting, bank boss Janet Yellen cited concerns about the impact on the U.S. economy of recent turmoil in global markets, weakness in China and Europe and the plunge in oil prices.

Argentina's chamber of deputies voted early Wednesday to approve a repayment deal with more holdout creditors, as the nation seeks to finally close the door on 15 years of litigation over its defaulted bonds.

The vote in Argentina's lower chamber of Congress, by 165 to 86, came after some 20 hours of debate, marking a first legislative triumph for the young administration of President Mauricio Macri. 

OPEC members and key oil producers from outside the cartel will meet on April 17 in Doha in a bid to stabilize falling crude prices, Qatar's energy minister said Wednesday.

The meeting was a "follow-up" to last month's talks between Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela when they proposed an accord to freeze oil output at January levels, said Mohammed al-Sada, the current OPEC president.

British finance minister George Osborne will unveil Wednesday his annual budget, with more austerity pain as the global economic outlook darkens, but will pledge more cash for education and infrastructure.

Most economists believe Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne will likely avoid any major shocks, with three months to go until Britons vote on EU membership in a crucial referendum.

Frankfurt stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with the London Stock Exchange to go ahead with their planned merger and both its management and supervisory boards had consented to the key terms of the proposed tie-up. 

"Following approval of the supervisory board of Deutsche Boerse, the management board of Deutsche Boerse today concluded an agreement on the implementation of a business combination with (the London Stock Exchange) LSEG under a UK holding company," the German group said in a statement. 

The doomsayers were 100 percent certain that the Internet would be the death of travel agents.

But in Europe's three biggest economies, the industry is still very much alive and kicking as consumers prefer expert advice and a friendly face when it comes to booking their holidays. 

Oil prices rebounded in Asia Wednesday after a two-day sell-off fanned by concerns over planned talks between major producers to freeze output.

Both main contracts tumbled around five percent on Monday and Tuesday, after Iran said at the weekend it would not join the talks until its production had hit 4.0 million barrels per day.

Oil extended its decline in Asia Tuesday as hopes faded that major crude producers would freeze output to ease a world surplus, sending Brent crude back below $40.

A meeting proposed by Russia and Saudi Arabia to discuss output limits has been pushed back to April from March 20, after signs that some key producing nations do not support the move.