Oman, which faces Iran across the Strait of Hormuz, said it’s poised to start raising cash for a $3 billion rail line offering an alternative route for oil and freight shipments that funnel through the 21 mile-wide channel. The nation of 3.3 million people, located on the southern side of the strait, is considering issuing bonds by the end of 2014 to kick-start funding for the track […]
Air carriers flying to Winter Olympics host Russia were warned today to watch for toothpaste tubes containing materials that could be turned into a bomb, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The official declined to elaborate on the intelligence that sparked the warning, which was sent to U.S. and foreign airlines, just two days before the start of the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. Security at Sochi […]
Gold held steady on Thursday as global equities remained volatile amid lower risk appetite and concerns over economic growth, and as investors waited for cues from U.S. jobs data. A mixed bag of U.S. data added to pressure from the emerging markets turmoil on equity markets, underpinning safe-haven assets such as gold and the yen. “Even when stocks have rallied over the past few trading sessions, we […]
Lazard Asset Management (LAM) said it would expand its Middle East operations by hiring the former regional asset management team of ING Group NV, which resigned from the Dutch firm in Dubai earlier this week. A subsidiary of U.S.-based Lazard, LAM will focus on equities in the Middle East and North Africa and frontier markets with the Dubai-based team of six. Farah Foustok will be managing director […]
Dubai’s largest real estate developer Emaar Properties regained an investment-grade credit rating on Wednesday, marking the emirate’s strong recovery from its financial crisis five years ago. Standard and Poor’s raised its long-term rating of Emaar to BBB-minus, the lowest investment grade, from BB-plus. In 2009, S&P had cut the state-linked firm to junk status as the global credit crunch and a crash of Dubai’s property market ravaged […]
Pumping his fist into the Paris air, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal, celebrated the award of the 2020 World Expo to Dubai. A Dubai counterpart returned the favor three weeks later, hailing Abu Dhabi’s role in securing the event. The backslapping late last year signaled the ever-closer relationship between the sheikhdoms at the core of the seven-member United Arab Emirates, one a […]
Investment bankers in Europe are off to the leanest start to a year in a decade as dwindling income from deal-making and trading presses firms to reduce costs. Revenue from arranging mergers, loans and stock and bond offerings for clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 22 percent to $1.58 billion last month from the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by New York-based research […]
Moody’s Investors Service has withdrawn all ratings for Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group, a unit of the ruler of Dubai’s fund. The agency said the company had stopped participating in the ratings process, which prompted the move. “Moody’s has withdrawn the ratings because of inadequate information to monitor the ratings, due to the issuer’s decision to cease participation in the rating process,” the firm said in a note. Moody’s […]
Abu Dhabi and Dubai completed due diligence on a potential merger of the two bourses in the United Arab Emirates, bringing the combination a step closer, according to two people familiar with the matter. Valuation and structuring work was completed in December, with the deal now requiring approval from the governments of the two emirates before proceeding further, the people said, asking not to be identified as […]
ING Group NV, the Dutch financial services conglomerate, said on Monday it was closing its Middle East asset management operation, based in Dubai, after the team there resigned. The closure is in line with ING’s restructuring drive, which involves only maintaining asset management operations in countries where it has a strong insurance presence, Karl Hanuska, a spokesman for ING Investment Management in the Netherlands, said by telephone. […]
Asian shares skidded on Tuesday while the dollar struggled to keep its footing, after disappointing data cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. economy and gave investors little reason to hope for stability in emerging markets after their recent rout. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell about 1.4 percent, touching its lowest level since early September at one point. The gloom was likely […]
Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google on Monday began publishing details about the number of secret government requests for data they receive, hoping to show limited involvement in controversial surveillance efforts. The tech industry has pushed for greater transparency on government data requests, seeking to shake off concerns about their involvement in vast, surreptitious surveillance programs revealed last summer by former spy contractor Edward Snowden. The government said […]
Several travel and tourism offices in Kuwait agree that the number of Kuwaiti tourists visiting Dubai during the holidays in the last four seasons has been the highest so far, reports Al-Jaridah daily. Mohammad Al-Tasabaji, the General Manager of a travel agency, revealed that many airlines have increased the number of flights to Dubai due to a large number of travelers from Kuwait who choose Dubai as […]
Union Properties, a Dubai-based real estate developer, said on Monday that its net profit jumped more than eightfold to 1.58 billion dirhams ($430.2 million) last year from 175.8 million dirhams in 2012. The brief statement did not give a reason for the increase, but companies across Dubai’s property sector are booming as the real estate market recovers from its 2008-2010 crash. The company also said it was […]
For global automakers, the dusty backroads of rural India could be the new El Dorado. As economic torpor suffocates demand for new cars in India’s megacities, incomes are growing faster in small towns and country areas. That’s pushing the likes of General Motors and Honda Motor Co to fan out in search of buyers in places where fewer than 20 people in every thousand own a car […]
Commodities moved lower during the course of the week as the diverging outlook between emerging and developed economies continued to raise uncertainty about the demand outlook for commodities. The weakness was primarily driven by losses in both metal sectors with industrial metals being hurt by weak China manufacturing data together with a slowdown in activity ahead of the Lunar New Year shutdown in several Asian markets. Precious […]
Dubai Pearl announced the sale of prime property assets valued at US$1.9 billion (AED 6.8 billion) within its 20 million sq ft Dubai Pearl development project to the Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Endowment Industry Investment Development (Group) Ltd . The purchase includes high-end residences and serviced apartments and two 5-star hotels. This is the largest bulk asset sale for the development, which is 100 per cent […]
Bahrain-based investment management firm Arcapita announced the signing of an agreement to sell Varel International Energy Services, Inc. (Varel), a leading manufacturer of drill bits for the oil and gas, and mining and industrial industries, to Sweden-based Sandvik AB for a total transaction value of approximately $740 million. The closing of the transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain environmental due diligence. It is likely […]
Hotels in Dubai reported the highest profit levels in the region in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East. During December, Dubai continued to record strong performance levels, reflecting the growth experienced throughout the year, the survey said. These latest figures follow a recent pronouncement by the head of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing […]
Dubai-based construction firm Arabtec said it would build 37 major buildings worth 22.44 billion dirhams ($6.1 billion) for Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in a fresh sign of the dramatic recovery of local estate markets. Confirming a Reuters story on Saturday, Arabtec said the deal was one of the largest ever in the region’s real estate sector and Arabtec’s biggest by value. […]
U.S. stocks fell for a third week, the longest slump since 2012 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index , after the Federal Reserve cut stimulus even as a rout in emerging markets spurred concern about the global economy. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4 percent to 1,782.59 in the week and reached the lowest level since November on Jan. 29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 180.26 […]
The U.K. has chosen HSBC Holdings to arrange and advise on its debut Islamic bond planned for as early as this year in an effort to become the first non-Muslim nation to sell the debt, a Treasury official said. Other banks will be mandated closer to the time of the sale, the official said yesterday, asking not to be named because the information isn’t public. Linklaters LLP […]
Dubai Financial Market (DFM) , the emirate’s main stock exchange, has issued rules allowing the lending and borrowing of securities, part of efforts to make the market more flexible ahead of an influx of foreign funds. Lending and borrowing of securities is expected to begin in the first quarter of this year, if investors are ready, DFM said in a statement seen on Friday. Securities lending and […]
The Federal Reserve’s decision to keep trimming its economic stimulus drew fire on Friday as India’s central bank chief said Americans should be more attuned to the global impact of their policies, and the IMF called for vigilance given strains in financial markets. The push-back came on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s last day on the job and two days after the U.S. central bank reduced the pace […]
