IBM shares rocketed in morning trading in New York yesterday rising $91/4 to $176 by midday Shares in

IBM shares rocketed in morning trading in New York yesterday, rising $91/4 to $176 by midday Shares in Dell had gained $3 to $8315/16."They both benefit. Dell has emerged in recent years as the fastest-growing maker of PCs in the world and the second-largest after Compaq. Both companies stressed that in the longer term Texas-based Dell would have access to IBM's huge research division, with an annual budget of around $5bn. IBM is guaranteed a steady and voracious new customer and a significant revenue boost. The agreement means initially that Dell will buy parts from IBM such as disk drives, memory chips and flat displays.

The deal should be worth $16bn (pounds 10bn) over seven years, making it the largest-ever struck in the information technology sector. DRAWING APPLAUSE from Wall Street, International Business Machines (IBM) revealed yesterday that it had reached an agreement with Dell Computer to supply it with equipment and components. However, he dismissed speculation about ECB intervention in the currency markets as "just rumours".Economists said that the weakness of the European currency was a blessing for exporters in the euro zone. The German government said that a drop in export demand was a key factor behind the country's disappointing fourth- quarter growth of minus 0.4 per centA European Commission survey revealed further falls in business confidence on the Continent in February.Data published by the EU statistics office showed unemployment in the euro zone down to 10.6 per cent, a six-year low..

Interest-rate differentials may also explain the fall."Mr Duisenberg said further euro weakness could cause concern and the ECB would continue to monitor developments. He said: "I think it is predominantly the strong dollar, not so much the weak euro. It also closed at a new low of 67.35p, and analysts warned that worries over economic prospects would continue to drive the European currency lower. ECB president, Wim Duisenberg, said last night that recent falls in the currency in part reflected the buoyancy of the US economy. THE EURO slumped to a new low against the dollar following the European Central Bank's decision to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 3 per cent. Shortly after the decision was announced the euro fell below $1.08, a new low.

"Many of the problems are the same throughout the UK, but others will require different answers," said one.Mr Blair's change of emphasis at today's Glasgow conference will be coupled with another strong attack on the Scottish National Party, which is on course to win a sizeable presence in the first elections to the Edinburgh Parliament in May.The Prime Minister will also be anxious to tackle confusion among the public about the voting system to be used in the elections and growing fears in the Labour hierarchy that it will damage the party's prospects.Despite a pounds 2.5m government "education" campaign, voters are thought not to fully understand the two-question system intended to produce a better balance between parties.Vote one will be cast in the traditional first-past-the-post way for a named candidate and the second for regional party lists.But a Labour source said there was still confusion, with people believing the second vote should be for a "second- choice" party.Strategists fear this would mean second votes in normally solid Labour areas in the country's central belt going to the SNP.Brushing aside a poll suggesting most Scots want him to keep out of the election campaign, the Prime Minister was in Glasgow yesterday meeting factory workers.. The Labour leadership has been accused of vetoing left-wingers as candidates for the parliament. As Mr Blair began a two-day visit to Scotland yesterday, his allies conceded that "Scottish problems will require Scottish solutions." They cited issues such as land reform and the drug-abuse crisis north of the border.Aides insisted that "Scottish New Labour" would still be acting in tune with the values of the Labour Party by producing distinctive policies. The more conciliatory tone will be seen as a response to criticism that Mr Blair has been reluctant to turn Labour's rhetoric on devolution into reality. In an important concession to critics north of the border, the Prime Minister will tell the annual conference of the Scottish Labour Party that devolution will bring diversity and distinctive policies.

TONY BLAIR will seek to soften his "control freak" image today by promising that the new Scottish Parliament will allow Scotland to go it alone on key policy issues from this summer. But then in the tough world of interna- tional trade, that is just hard cheese.And so, every EU country had something put against it: sweaters from Britain, handbags from France, Parma ham from Italy and so on.This is a tried and trusted technique, adopted by the US in many other trade wars: the great frozen chicken war, the pasta conflict, and other historic battle honours sewn on the banners of the United States trade representative.. Embarrassingly for the US, The Wall Street Journal discovered that among the main producers for export was a small farm in the Mugello region near Florence, which is also a shelter for abused children.The US banana industry had ended up by harming 60 disturbed children, whose only crime had been to produce a dairy product. Bananas, it has to be said, would not complement pecorino.So without further ado, the pecorino producers found themselves in the middle of a trade war.