Stocks across the Middle East tumbled as the easing of sanctions against Iran raised the prospect of a surge in oil supplies to a market already reeling from the lowest prices in more than a decade. Shares in Tehran gained. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dropped 5.4 percent to its lowest level since March 2011. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index fell into a so-called bear market. The Bloomberg […]
After a decade of unprecedented economic sanctions, Iran is about to be back in business. The Islamic Republic curbed its ability to make a nuclear bomb as required under a deal with world powers, clearing the way for it to resume global commerce, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday. The European Union, United Nations and U.S. agreed in July to lift sanctions simultaneously once compliance was verified. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A leading player in the Dubai real estate market has predicted a correction in the rental market at a rate faster than expected in 2016 as thousands of new apartments and villas enter the new supplies. Real estate consultancy JLL predicted that average housing rents in the city would continue to fall by as much as 10 per cent over the coming 12 […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The prospects of $20 for a barrel of oil look a lot more realistic now than ever before as crude futures in the US dipped below $30 this week. According to Bloomberg, crude futures in the U.S. sank into the $20s for the first time in more than 12 years on Tuesday, hours after BP said it would slash an additional 4,000 jobs, Petroleo […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai-headquartered private equity investment group Abraaj announced another investment in India to buy a majority stake in Quality CARE India Ltd, which runs CARE Hospitals from global PE firm Advent International. CARE, which operates a multi-specialty chain of 16 hospitals across nine cities, plans to expand in “underpenetrated” regions of India, as well as enter other markets where Abraaj operates, the Dubai firm […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The decline in investor sentiment driven by lower oil prices and a slowdown in government spending, as well as regional geopolitical unrest have affected the UAE’s residential market, real estate investment and advisory firm JLL said in its annual review for 2015. The gaining strength of the dollar, which is making UAE real estate more expensive for overseas investors, also contributed to the […]
|By Matein Khalid| This was the ghastliest week for global risk assets since September 2011. Not even 290,000 new US jobs in December could negate the raw fear on Wall Street generated by the 10% fall in Shanghai, a yuan depreciation, market meltdowns of 6 – 7% in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Mumbai and New York. Four months ago, I had published a KT article titled “History’s […]
|By Arabian Staff| Additional information forthcoming from state-owned Saudi oil giant Aramco suggests that the proposed IPO may be restricted to refining and other similar activities rather than the parent company as a whole. Aramco clarified in a statement the other day that while the company was studying options including a full initial public offering, one of the options under consideration is “listing of a bundle” of […]
|By Dr Alaa Alghamdi| In a modern, largely secular world, it is remarkable to observe how strongly the interplay between the original ‘big three’ Abrahamic religions, many hundreds of years old and stemming from a common root, still affect world affairs and attitudes toward them. To cite a somewhat whimsical analogy, Rick Riordan’s series of books about a character named Percy Jackson posits that the Greek gods […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Heightening speculation about an impending change in Saudi Arabia’s currency policy has forced the kingdom’s monetary authorities to issue a clarification to the effect that no changes were being contemplated in Saudi riyal’s 30-year old dollar peg. It is the second time in the past four months that Saudi Arabia is pledging allegiance to the dollar after bets for a devaluation seemed to […]
Saudi Arabia’s potential initial public offering of its state oil company could be the largest ever, a juicy target for any ambitious Wall Street bank. In a country traditionally cold to outsiders, only a few have the experience to win it. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc are among international lenders in the best position to win a role if the kingdom goes ahead with […]
Saudi Arabia is considering its own Big Bang. The world biggest crude exporter is considering selling a stake in its state-owned company, which controls more than a tenth of the global oil market. A potential initial public offering is under review for Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Aramco, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s deputy crown prince, said in an interview with The Economist. A decision […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Gold seems to be re-discovering its safe haven status in the wake of a turmoil that billionaire investor George Soros describes as the beginning of a global market crisis. Bullion rallied above $1,100 an ounce, rising for a fourth day to a two-month high, after Chinese shares plunged, the yuan slid and the country’s stock exchanges closed early for the second time this […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The UAE’s non-oil private sector ended the year on a low note, with business conditions improving at the slowest rate in 40 months, the headline Emirates NBD UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index for December showed. A key factor weighing on the sector as a whole was relatively muted growth of new work – the pace of expansion was the weakest since August 2011. Output, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Etihad Airways will replace the leased Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for its daily flight to and from San Francisco with its own Boeing 777-200LRs from April 25, 2016. The daily EY101 flight from Abu Dhabi to New York’s JFK airport and the return EY100 service will also see leased Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft replaced by Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ERs from June […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The UAE insurance industry has recently started to show signs of impact due to lower oil price and the challenging economic environment. The shifting regulatory landscape, increased competitiveness and light regulatory enforcement were some of the key topics of discussion at the recent Business Breakfast organized by EY, attended by key insurers and market players in the UAE insurance industry. “The UAE insurance […]
Saudi Arabia’s currency peg is no longer sustainable amid a slump in oil prices that threatens to further crimp government financing, according to Commerzbank AG. The cost of buying 12-month dollar-riyal forwards has risen almost 1 percent since early December to about 3.83 per dollar, Commerzbank said in a report on Tuesday. Upward pressure on the forwards will probably increase over the “coming weeks and months,” it said. Saudi […]
At almost any other time, an escalating diplomatic conflict between OPEC members Iran and Saudi Arabia would mean a spike in oil prices. That the rally this time couldn’t be sustained shows just how abnormal things are in the oil market. Brent crude has fallen 0.5 percent this week as a global supply glut and the slowest Chinese growth in a generation trumped mounting strife between the […]
Saudi Arabia’s move to isolate Iran raises the specter of deepening conflicts in the volatile Middle East after the biggest meltdown in relations between the two regional powers in almost three decades. The Saudi government and staunch ally Bahrain severed diplomatic ties, giving Iranian ambassadors 48 hours to leave after protesters set the Saudi embassy in Tehran on fire over the weekend following the execution of Saudi cleric […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Etihad Airways launched fresh legal action in a bid to overturn a German court’s decision to revoke the approval for 29 of its codeshare flights with airberlin. Last week, the Administrative Court of Braunschweig decided that the German Ministry of Transport was entitled to reject the 29 Etihad Airways – airberlin codeshares, which had been approved only until 15 January 2016. As the […]
Oil gained for a second day as Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran a day after its embassy in Tehran was attacked to protest the Saudis’ execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Futures rose as much as 3.5 percent in New York, extending Thursday’s 1.2 percent advance. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of repercussions and protesters armed with rocks and firebombs attacked the Saudi embassy […]
India’s rupee fell the most since November on speculation demand for riskier assets will be hurt as tensions in the Middle East intensify and poor Chinese economic data adds to concern over global growth. Emerging-market stocks and currencies dropped Monday as manufacturing in China weakened for a fifth straight month, the longest such streak since 2009. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran and expelled the Islamic Republic’s diplomats, […]
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saudi rulers will face repercussions after the kingdom executed an outspoken Shiite cleric. “The divine hand of revenge will take the Saudi politicians by the throat,” Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, said on Sunday. Cleric Nimr al-Nimr “was neither encouraging people to armed protests, nor plotting secretly, all he did was to openly criticize,” said Khamenei, who frequently lashes out at […]
|By K Raveendran| Given Dubai’s fame as one of the most happening cities of the world, the international media attention to the New Year-eve fire at the Address Hotel was quite natural. At the same time, it did not escape the attention of the discerning that some sections of the media lost no opportunity to use the unfortunate incident to show things in a rather poor light. […]
