When planners designed the Business Bay district in Dubai at the height of the last real-estate boom, they boasted it would become the largest business and office district in the Middle East. Yet a visit to the site today suggests there is a lot more living than working taking place, with nannies pushing carriages and children romping around a playground. Throughout Dubai, developers are restarting projects that […]
India pledged on Thursday to take all necessary steps to ensure stability in financial markets as it tried to calm jitters over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to scale down its economic stimulus. The U.S. central bank said on Wednesday it would buy $65 billion in bonds per month starting in February, down from $75 billion now. It shaved its purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage bonds […]
Passenger flows through Dubai’s main airport, the world’s second busiest for international traffic, jumped 15.2 percent in 2013 thanks to expansion of its route network and the use of wide-body planes, airport authorities said on Wednesday. Passenger traffic last year totalled a record 66.4 million people. In December, more than 6 million passengers passed though the airport for the first time, an increase of 13.6 percent from […]
A unit of Dubai Holding, owned by the emirate’s ruler, has sold a piece of land to fast-growing shopping mall developer Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), the latest in a series of plot sales initiated by state-linked firms in the emirate to raise funds. The unit, TECOM Investments, sold 1 million square feet of land at its International Media Production Zone (IMPZ), a development that spreads across 43 […]
Lenovo Group said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Google Inc’s Motorola handset division for $2.91 billion, in what is China’s largest-ever tech deal as Lenovo buys its way into a heavily competitive U.S. handset market dominated by Apple Inc. It is Lenovo’s second major deal on U.S. soil in a week as the Chinese electronics company angles to get a foothold in major global computing markets. […]
For a bellwether, Emaar Properties — builder of the world’s tallest tower — has done quite well for itself in the past year: reflecting Dubai’s meteoric real estate sector recovery with a 104% gain in 2013 that underpinned the stock market’s stellar performance. On Tuesday, Emaar’s stock rallied another 6.3% to 8.24 dirhams ($2.25) – its highest closing level since early September 2008, when Dubai’s much celebrated […]
Arabtec Holding, a big Dubai-based construction firm, said it was discussing a number of large projects with the Iraqi government and would open an office in Baghdad to help its business in the country. The office will promote ventures which Arabtec formed last year with South Korea’s Samsung Engineering and GS Engineering & Construction, in line with the company’s strategy of diversifying into higher-margin segments such as […]
The executive suite is not the only place that is greying in India’s 40-year-old information technology sector. As the $108 billion industry enters middle age and its growth slows, the three-million-strong workforce is also getting older, making it harder to extract some of the cost advantages of the young, cheap labour for which it is known. Firms have had to change in order to attract and support […]
Asian markets rallied on Wednesday after Turkey stunned investors with a huge hike in interest rates, stirring hopes drastic action would short-circuit a vicious cycle of selling in emerging markets and revive risk appetite. European shares were expected to ride the wave of optimism, with financial spreadbetters predicting Britain’s FTSE 100 to open 43-48 points higher, or up by as much as 0.7 percent; Germany’s DAX was […]
GEMS Education celebrated the listing of a $200 million (AED 735 million) Sukuk on NASDAQ Dubai on Tuesday, with founder and Chairman Sunny Varkey ringing the market opening bell at Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The nominal value of Sukuk currently listed in Dubai has now reached $13.28 billion (AED 48.8 billion). More than 50% of that sum, amounting to $6.85 billion (AED 25.2 billion), has come from […]
Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates is expected to move all of its operations to the emirate’s new Al Maktoum International Airport after 2020, a senior executive at Al Maktoum said on Tuesday. Big international carriers, including Emirates, have so far not indicated any plans to move to the new airport, which officially launched passenger services in October last year. “Emirates have to move to the new airport at […]
Gold’s biggest slump in three decades has been a boon for MKS (Switzerland) SA’s PAMP refinery near the Italian border in Castel San Pietro, whose bullion sales to China surged to a record as demand rose for coins, bars and jewelry. As prices plunged 28 percent in 2013, investors dumped a record 869.1 metric tons from gold-backed funds traded mostly in the U.S. and Europe. Much of […]
Lower-than-expected holiday iPhone sales and a weak revenue forecast by Apple Inc renewed fears about Chinese demand and a tepid global market, wiping 8 percent off company stock. This year was to have been Apple Inc’s watershed moment in China, when a long-awaited deal with the nation’s largest carrier was to have propelled it back toward the top ranks of its most crucial market, clawing back ground […]
The Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly raised its policy interest rate on Tuesday by 25 basis points but said that if consumer price inflation eases as projected it does not foresee further near-term tightening. The policy decision was driven by an expectation that consumer price index (CPI) inflation will remain high, an indication that the RBI is looking to adopt a recent proposal to base its policy […]
After a scary sell-off in emerging markets in the past week, investors who specialize in the sector are looking for places to hide while also looking for opportunities to benefit. And that means finding countries that have stronger economic underpinnings and political stability, while abandoning or betting against those whose current account balances and government budgets are deeply in the red and where there is political turmoil. […]
Gold rallied for a third session on Monday to its highest in two months as equities fell on worries that capital outflows from emerging economies would continue, boosting bullion’s safe-haven appeal. Asian shares took a beating and the yen raced to a seven-week high against the dollar, with the U.S. Federal Reserve poised to continue tapering its stimulus and tighter credit conditions in China raising fears of […]
The head of Dubai’s Chamber of Commerce strongly disagrees with the estimate of how many jobs the city’s 2020 Expo win will bring to the emirate – he thinks it will be way more. Analysts have calculated that Dubai’s world fair triumph will create 277,000 jobs, about 14 per cent of the current population of Dubai. But not only does Hamad Buamim reckon the figure is feasible, […]
Karl Slym, managing director of Tata Motors Ltd, died after falling from a hotel room in Bangkok in what police said on Monday could be possible suicide. Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata’s Thailand unit in the Thai capital and was staying with his wife in a room on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel. Hotel staff found his body on Sunday on […]
Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, missed analysts’ forecasts despite an 8 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit as a surge in the amount set aside by the lender to meet loan losses offset increased net interest income. The lender, 55.6-percent owned by state fund Investment Corp of Dubai, made a net profit of 673 million dirhams ($183.2 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, a statement […]
The rupee hits 62.90 in early trade, its lowest level since November 22, as Asian stocks trading with heavy losses. The pair last trading at 62.77/78 vs Friday’s close of 62.66/67. Dealers will closely watch for RBI intervention at current levels after the RBI was suspected to have sold dollars in late session on Friday. The RBI to decide on rates on Tuesday. While the consensus still […]
Asian shares tumbled and the yen reached for seven-week highs against the dollar and euro on Monday as emerging markets remained under pressure, with the U.S. Federal Reserve poised to continue tapering stimulus and tighter credit conditions in China raising fears of a sharper economic slowdown. But U.S. stock futures suggested the selloff might abate later in the session. S&P 500 E-mini futures edged up 0.2 percent […]
Crossing the red light on the tramway intersection will invite a fine of Dh2,000 to Dh5,000 and revocation of the offender’s license for period of 30 days to 3 months, according to safety regulations issued by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. If the accident leads to fatality, a minimum fine of Dh10,000 (Dh30,000 maximum) will […]
Barrick Gold Corp’s warning this week that its in-the-ground gold reserves will shrink is widely expected to be echoed in the coming weeks by miners around the globe, spelling more asset writedowns for an already beat-up sector. For the first time in years, miners from Canada to Australia will tell their shareholders that reserves – the future source of production, cash flow and growth – have significantly […]
The top U.S. tax prosecutor said that 106 Swiss banks are seeking U.S. amnesty for helping American clients evade taxes, according to three lawyers who heard her speak at a conference in Phoenix. U.S. prosecutors gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they have “reason to believe” they violated tax laws. Banks must disclose how they helped Americans hide assets, […]
