Most Gulf firms can prosper with $70 oil DUBAI, 6 days ago Plunging stock markets in the Gulf show investors are panicking about the prospect of $70 oil next year. But heavy state spending means most firms in the region, with the big exception of petrochemical producers, are likely to do just fine. The main Saudi stock index sank 4.8 per cent on Sunday, bringing its losses […]
Thriving UAE means plenty of opportunity for job seekers UAE firms plan big time hiring as economy looks up DUBAI, 7 days ago Seventy-four per cent of UAE companies claim they will either ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ be hiring in a year’s time, suggesting long-term growth and a positive outlook for the country’s economy, a report said. Meanwhile, 66 per cent of UAE firms have hired new employees […]
Dubai is confident that it will be able to raise equity and debt to finance all its huge development projects over the next five years despite the plunge in oil prices, the head of the emirate’s Department of Finance (DoF) said. “The government in its forthcoming budgets has enough headroom to fund the projects through a healthy debt-equity mix,” director-general Abdulrahman al-Saleh said. “In addition, DoF has […]
The latest entrant into Islamic finance is leading the industry in the new direction of socially responsible investment – which could even include the fight against Ebola. Last week an immunisation programme secured a $500 million issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in the largest debut issue ever by a global non-profit organisation, under a broader trend to use bond markets to fund development and humanitarian projects. […]
Oil market analysts are debating if oil will fall to $50. In North Dakota, prices are already there. Crude sold at the wellhead in the Bakken shale region in North Dakota fell to $49.69 a barrel on Nov. 28, according to the marketing arm of Plains All America (PAA) Pipeline LP. That’s down 47 percent from this year’s peak in June, and 29 percent less than the […]
Saudi Arabia will probably deepen discounts for crude supplies to Asia after leading OPEC to maintain the group’s output target amid a global battle for market share, according to a Bloomberg survey of traders. The world’s biggest oil exporter will announce January official selling prices to buyers in Asia this week, after lifting its Arab Light grade from the lowest level in almost six years a month […]
|By TAP Staff| Construction data miners at Emporis have published a chart of the world’s most expensive buildings. According to the graphic, New York’s One World Trade Center is by far the world’s most expensive building, coming in at $3.9 billion, nearly double the second-most expensive buildings, Vegas’ Palazzo casino and London’s The Shard, which both cost $1.9B to build. Perhaps even more surprising, Dubai’s dizzying Burj […]
Shares in Dubai declined to the lowest level in five months as the emirate’s largest stock traded without the right to its next dividend and Gulf markets retreated amid plunging oil prices. The DFM General Index (DFMGI) fell 2.2 percent to 4,186.11 at the close. The gauge lost 19 percent since the most recent peak on Sept. 3, leaving it less than 50 points away from a […]
Deloitte LLP may be blocked from auditing companies in Saudi Arabia after the country’s market regulator told firms registered in the kingdom to stop using its local services, according to a circular obtained by Bloomberg. The Capital Market Authority said in the circular dated Nov. 27 that publicly traded companies it regulates should avoid working with Deloitte’s Saudi Arabian practice as of June 1. The ban could […]
Plunging stock markets in the Gulf show investors are panicking about the prospect of $70 oil next year. But heavy state spending means most firms in the region, with the big exception of petrochemical producers, are likely to do just fine. The main Saudi stock index sank 4.8 percent on Sunday, bringing its losses from its September peak to 23 percent. Dubai’s index is down 21 percent […]
Voters today rejected a referendum requiring the Swiss National Bank hold at least 20 percent of its 520-billion-franc ($540 billion) balance sheet in gold. Had it been approved, it would have led to purchases of at least 1,500 metric tons over five years. With lower oil prices reducing costs for consumers and the U.S. considering raising interest rates, demand is fading for hedges against inflation such as […]
Gulf stock markets plunged in early trade on Sunday after OPEC’s decision to keep crude output unchanged sent oil prices tumbling at the end of last week. Dubai’s benchmark dropped 4.8 percent to a six-week low, with all traded stocks in decline. Qatar’s index also fell 4.8 percent, slumping to its lowest level since early July. Oman’s bourse dropped 4.4 percent, Abu Dhabi slid 2.0 percent and […]
State-owned conglomerate Dubai World will meet with its creditors next week to formally present revisions to its multi-billion-dollar debt restructuring terms, three sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Meetings will take place in London on Dec. 1 and Dubai on Dec. 8 to put a new debt proposal to all creditors, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is not […]
Funds tracking MSCI’s emerging markets index are likely to start buying several stocks in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that will see their benchmark weightings increased after the end of trading on Tuesday. These include Emaar Properties, Dubai Islamic Bank and First Gulf Bank in the UAE, plus Doha’s Industries Qatar, Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank and Commercial Bank of Qatar. Gulf International Services will join […]
Three more private companies are expected to list shares on the UAE stock exchanges’ secondary market by mid-2015, the head of the stock market regulator said after the first two firms began trading on the platform on Tuesday. Announced in September, the new platform aims to encourage many of the Gulf state’s private companies, including family-owned firms who dominate the business landscape, to trade their shares through […]
NEW DELHI: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Thursday approved an outlay of Rs 43,033 crore to fund an ambitious initiative to supply electricity through separate feeders for agricultural and rural domestic consumption, aimed at providing round-the-clock power to village households. In addition, the cabinet also approved spending Rs 32,612 crore on an integrated power development initiative, which involves strengthening sub-transmission and distribution systems, according […]
By Kalyani Shankar Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooing the Indian Diaspora? While Modi’s critics say that he is building up the brand Modi abroad, Modi is clear that with their support he could build a better image for himself. There are about 100 million Indians living abroad and he obviously feels that their power should be harnessed for the growth of India and for his […]
NEW DELHI: The government will soon relax the rules so that road developers can sell their completed or stuck project, which will free them up to invest in other road projects that have found few takers in recent years. The current rules say developers have to hold at least 26 per cent stake in highway projects, tying them to projects executed by them. The road ministry […]
Mumbai: The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday cleared big-bang market reforms, including a move to replace the two-decade-old insider-trading rules with the new prohibition of insider trading (PIT) regulations, and amending the existing delisting regulations. Additionally, Sebi approved new reforms in consent mechanism under which it will give entities found violating securities laws the option of settling the matter before the […]
NEW DELHI: The government is working on big-ticket financial package for about 1,30,000-mw thermal and hydro power plants worth over Rs 6,00,000 crore that are hit by severe funds crunch while continuing to face cost and time overruns. Officials said the Department of Financial Services will shortly recommend a series of steps to the Reserve Bank of India. These include lenders providing additional debt to […]
NEW DELHI: The government will decide on Saturday whether to press ahead with the Rs 13,000 crore mega project for the private sector to supply 56 medium transport aircraft to the IAF despite only a single bidder, the Tata-Airbus consortium, being in the fray. Though the defence acquisitions council (DAC) chaired by Manohar Parrikar will take the final decision, MoD sources on Tuesday said the “emerging […]
Bad debts in China are well underestimated because authorities persist in propping up weak companies and bailing out local investors, according to DAC Management LLC. The Chicago-based asset management and advisory firm, which focuses on distressed credit and special situations in China, says the worst is yet to come, and that means lots of opportunities for the world’s biggest distressed debt traders. Nonperforming loans at Chinese banks […]
By Ashok B Sharma If South Asia plans to consolidate and further integrate itself, it needs to learn much from the experiences of South-East Asian countries that are moving towards an ASEAN Economic Community hopefully by 2015. About 80 per cent of the spadework have been done for the process of integration, only 20 per cent of the efforts are needed. The ASEAN group was of course […]
NEW DELHI: Bids in the February 2015 spectrum auction are likely to skyrocket as the department of telecommunications (DoT) plans to auction just 800/900/1800 MHz spectrum bands, and not the vital 2100 MHz band spectrum that telcos were hoping for. Auctions for spectrum in the 2100 MHz band will take place only in May, and with no certainty about how much 2100 MHz spectrum would be available […]
