After a head-spinning bout of volatility, next week will be dominated by one question: Will the European Central Bank take the ultimate policy leap or pull its punches?

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address will propose closing multibillion-dollar tax loopholes used by the wealthiest Americans, imposing a fee on big financial firms and then using the revenue to benefit the middle class, senior administration officials said on Saturday.

United Arab Emirates-based RAK Ceramics RKCE.AD, one of the world's biggest makers of floor and wall tiles, said on Sunday that it would sell its stake in a joint venture with U.S. firm Laticrete for an undisclosed sum.

Spanish renewable energy firm Abengoa (ABG.MC) (ABGek.MC), which is selling assets to cut debt, said it had raised $328 million from selling shares in its U.S. unit after banks underwriting the offer bought more of the stock.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Wednesday, a government spokesman said, ahead of a key ECB meeting at which the bank is poised to announce a scheme to print fresh money to buy state bonds.

Greece's central bank has moved to protect its banks from any fallout from the coming general election, asking the European Central Bank to approve a stand-by domestic emergency funding line, a Bank of Greece official said on Saturday.

China's economic growth may be as high as 7.3 percent this year, partly due to falling commodity prices, the official Xinhua news agency quoted an academic advisor to the central bank's monetary policy committee as saying on Saturday.

Hedge fund manager Marko Dimitrijevic is closing his largest hedge fund, Everest Capital's Global Fund, having lost almost all its money after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) scrapped its three-year-old cap on the franc against the euro, Bloomberg news reported on Saturday.

Mergers and acquisitions activity in Brazil this year is likely to have a performance similar to last year's even if sluggish growth further weighs down confidence in Latin America's largest economy, a senior Credit Suisse Group AG dealmaker in the country said.

German utility RWE will complete the sale of oil and gas unit DEA [RWEDE.UL] to Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman by early March, it said on Friday, easing fears of a potential collapse.

U.S. crude traded above $48 on Friday after the University of Michigan released a report showing U.S. consumer sentiment reached its highest level in more than a decade in December.

The chief executive of Deutsche Bank's (DBKGn.DE) retail arm Postbank (DPBGn.DE) strongly advocates having Deutsche sell a large portion of Postbank's shares on the stock market rather than to another bank, a German magazine reported on Saturday.

The Obama administration is asking Wall Street to explain why the yields investors are demanding to compensate them for inflation have dropped since August, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

Target Corp was scrambling for ways to fix its failing Canadian expansion and considering closing just the weakest locations, but a pre-holiday visit to several stores by CEO Brian Cornell helped seal the decision for a full retreat.

GlaxoSmithKline could consider more partial public share offerings for component units as it evolves in the coming years, potentially pointing to a break-up of the group if this offers value to shareholders.

Deutsche Telekom considered making a takeover bid for Dutch rival KPN in 2014, with a view to expanding in neighboring countries, sources familiar with the matter said.

China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), the world's biggest e-commerce company, is piloting a mobile messaging app aimed at marrying social networking with business, an Alibaba spokeswoman said on Friday, as the company expands its enterprise services.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has stepped up its investments in Italy by buying 2 percent of power grid operator Terna, the latest in a series of such purchases in large Italian companies.

The New York Post said some of its Twitter accounts were hacked on Friday, in the wake of a series of inaccurate posts on the social network relating to the Federal Reserve, Bank of America and U.S. military engagement with China.

Google Inc is in talks to buy mobile-payments company Softcard, technology news website TechCrunch reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

When the Airbus (AIR.PA) A350 jet made its commercial debut with Qatar Airways this week, the event marked a milestone for engine supplier Rolls-Royce (RR.L), but slipping unnoticed under the radar with financing was its arch-rival General Electric (GE.N).

"Swiss Made" has traditionally stood for quality, precision and reliability. But after a shock move to scrap the cap on the franc, it could convey a less attractive message: Made more expensive.

Citigroup Inc said its quarterly profit dropped 86 percent, hurt by legal settlements and falling bond trading revenue, sending the bank's shares down more than 4 percent.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) reported a 7 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit as sharp market moves in December hit its bond-trading business.

U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest drop in six years in December and a gauge of underlying inflation was flat, which could make the Federal Reserve more cautious about raising interest rates.

China announced fresh support measures on Friday for its slowing economy after data showed a worrying drop in bank lending and foreign investment growth falling to a two-year low.

The Fox News and Fox Business channels returned on Thursday to satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp's (DISH.O) lineup after both sides agreed to a multiyear deal.

The White House on Thursday said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "net neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them.

Brent crude oil rose more than $2 to around $50 a barrel on Friday after the West's energy watchdog forecast the market sell-off would end, although analysts said a strong rebound soon was unlikely as global output continued to outweigh demand.

GlaxoSmithKline is feeling the heat from the rapid growth in electronic cigarettes, with enthusiasm for the nicotine delivery devices dampening sales of the British drugmaker's patches and gum, its chief executive said.