Dubai builder Arabtec Holding said on Monday that it had no plans to increase its stake in interior contracting firm Depa. Recent media speculation about increasing its stake in Depa was baseless and “there are no plans at this stage”, Arabtec said in a statement on Dubai’s bourse. The Dubai-based contractor acquired a 24 percent stake in Depa in Nov. 2012 for 241.7 million dirhams ($65.8 million). […]
As the city gets ready to welcome 2014 by setting new world records, hotel room rates in Dubai seem to be soaring at levels not seen in recent past. Booking websites reveal that room rates in the city seem to have doubled for spending the New Year ’s Eve in Dubai. Room rates at all Dubai hotels – luxury, mid-scale or budget – have been going up […]
Moscow: An explosion on a trolleybus in the city of Volgograd left 10 people dead Monday, a day after a suicide bombing that killed at least 17 at the city’s main railway. The explosions put the city on edge and highlighted the terrorist threat that Russia is facing as it prepares to host the Winter Games in February. Volgograd is about 400 miles northeast of Sochi, where […]
2013 has no doubt been a big year for the UAE property market. Dubai was recently named the world’s strongest housing market in 2013 given the city’s status as a safe haven with improved consumer and investor confidence. Home prices have been recorded at the highest levels since the downturn and the market has also gained a more favorable reputation for tighter regulation, given the spate of […]
India’s planned mobile phone spectrum auction will start on February 3, the government said on Saturday, delaying the bidding by 10 days from the original schedule. The telecommunications ministry will auction airwaves in the 900 and 1800 megahertz frequency bands in the auction, which is crucial for leading carriers Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Group Plc’s local unit to renew their permits in some key cities. The […]
Luxury brands are stepping up the battle for travelling shoppers with more outlets at airports and on cruise ships, tapping into one of the fastest growing sections of the market that looks set to keep booming thanks to soaring numbers of Asian tourists. Revenues from travel retail, which also includes sales on airplanes, rose 9.4 percent in 2012 to $55.8 billion, according to a market study by […]
The Reserve Bank of India said on Friday the restrictions on purchasing shares of Axis Bank under the foreign direct investment policy has been withdrawn with immediate effect, following the government’s approval to increase foreign investment limit in the bank to 62 percent from 49 percent. The higher foreign investment limit in Axis Bank will bring in 72.5 billion rupees, the government said on Thursday.-Reuters.
Dubai has emerged as one of the best performing stock markets globally in 2013, according to Global Equity International, a global consultancy that advises business leaders. By the end of November, the Dubai benchmark stock index had increased by 82%. Abu Dhabi appreciated by 46% during the same period. The Dubai Financial Market started the year strongly by appreciating 16 per cent in the month of January […]
A teenager who did not carry her emergency stash of medicines died of allergic reaction while out with family, Emirates 24/7 reported. The girl suffered from peanut allergy. 14-year-old Emma Sloan from Dublin, Ireland, died after a chemist refused to give her mother an emergency anti-allergy drug that could have saved her from an allergic reaction to peanuts. The family was enjoying their lunch at a local […]
Dana Gas, the energy producer that restructured debt last year due to delayed payments, rose the most in eight years after it received $53 million from Egypt, stoking bets of better cashflow. The stock surged almost 15 percent, the most since December 2005, to 86 fils at the close in Abu Dhabi. More than 311 million shares were traded, almost nine times the three-month average daily volume. […]
A high volume of holiday packages overwhelmed shipping and logistics company UPS, the company said on Wednesday, delaying the arrival of Christmas presents around the globe and sending angry consumers to social media to vent. Amazon.com responded with an email to affected customers offering shipping refunds and $20 gift cards to compensate. A convergence of factors, including higher volume than expected and recent patches of bad weather, […]
Shares in mid-sized drug makers extend a recent rally as dealers cite evidence of good buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). “A weaker rupee and an increasingly diversified revenue base are attracting FIIs,” said a dealer with a domestic brokerage. Shares of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd gain 1.8 percent, bringing the gains over the past eight sessions including Thursday to 37 percent. Wockhardt Ltd is up 2.2 percent, […]
New technologies using stem cells and tissue regeneration techniques are set to revolutionize ‘beauty business’ and offer more effective solutions for weight reduction, according to a leading local expert in plastic and reconstructive surgeries. Liposuction techniques are some of the most frequently performed procedures in the field of aesthetic surgery, and are in high demand with patients in the Middle East. The procedures are extremely popular due […]
Foreign portfolio investors in India would be subject to the same tax treatment as foreign institutional investors, the Securities and Exchange Board of India clarified on Tuesday. India had approved new rules in October aimed at streamlining the registration process for foreign investors according to which overseas investors will be classified into a newly created foreign portfolio investors category as long as their equity stake in a […]
The Index tower on Dubai’s answer to Wall Street has 23 floors of empty offices out of the 25 it opened in 2011. A few hundred feet away, buildings controlled by the Dubai International Financial Centre are almost full. The difference is ownership. The office space in the Index on Sheikh Zayed Road was sold in pieces to nine different investors under a system known as strata […]
People who want to rent homes in Dubai will now have to provide a statement of income from their employer to landlords before leasing a property. This new condition was revealed recently by a regional website, but no explanation was provided about specific circumstances such as for example divorcees with an income from alimony or students with scholarships, and other similar non-salaried prospective renters. After November 27th […]
After suffering steep declines in trade starting in 2012, seaborne transfer of goods between Iran and Dubai is picking up again, highlighting the U.A.E.’s delicate balancing act in maintaining important commercial ties and satisfying its Western allies. A combination of economic factors in Iran — attributed to tough international sanctions over its contested nuclear activities — resulted in a decrease in trade with the U.A.E. from $24 […]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could soon unveil a major change in monetary policy to explicitly make managing consumer inflation, rather than wholesale prices, its main objective. The shift would be a significant one in a country that’s long struggled to contain retail prices. It is expected as part of a deep review of monetary policy that RBI Raghuram Rajan ordered, after his September appointment, to […]
Non-resident Indians are bringing gold into the country by taking advantage of rules that allow each individual to carry 1 kg of the metal, helping traders cope with restrictions on imports during the peak wedding season. India, vying with China to be the top buyer of gold, has choked imports to narrow its trade gap and curb the outflow of dollars. The measures included raising the import […]
Bond issuance from the Gulf Arab region is set to surge next year on the back of heavy infrastructure spending and refinancing needs, while the Abu Dhabi sovereign may return to the market after an absence of nearly five years. The region’s issuance of conventional bonds and sukuk fell to $28.97 billion this year from $36.90 billion in 2012, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. That […]
While it may be the most common given name in the world, the global banking system seemingly can’t cope with Mohammed and its various different spellings. When it comes to false positives – where a person or transaction is incorrectly flagged for contravening sanctions – the total at Middle Eastern banks is around twice that of many international lenders because of the high use of names like […]
Dubai’s success in bidding to host the 2020 World Expo will trigger billions of dollars of investment in the emirate, but it may risk a repeat of the boom-and-bust cycle which nearly caused financial collapse just a few years ago. After competing against three cities, Dubai was awarded the world’s fair by the Bureau International des Expositions on Wednesday, setting the seal on a dramatic economic recovery. […]
A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program that collects millions of Americans’ telephone records may be unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled in a lawsuit brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman that the legal challenge to the massive surveillance program — disclosed in full earlier this year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden — would likely succeed. Leon, appointed […]
Dubai’s Arabtec Holding denied on Tuesday what it called “recent market and media speculation” that it was looking to buy local contractor Drake & Scull. “Arabtec Holding confirms that there have been no discussions between the management of both companies about a potential deal, and there are no current plans to acquire Drake & Scull either in full or in part,” it said in a bourse filing. […]
