Gold analysts are bullish for a third consecutive week on speculation that the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years and a standoff over raising the country’s debt limit will spur demand for the metal as a haven. Eighteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, eight are bearish and four neutral. That’s the longest positive run since July. Bullion capped a 7.6 percent […]
Saudi water and power project developer ACWA Power plans to sell an $800 million debut Islamic bond this year and list on the Saudi stock exchange around the end of 2014 as it ramps up production capacity, its chief executive said on Thursday. ACWA, which aims to have a gross production capacity of 38,000 megawatts (MW) of power by 2017 from its current 15,850 MWs, has said […]
International funds selling investments in the UAE plan to lobby financial regulators to ease new product registration fees which they complain are much higher than the charges on local operators and could run into tens of thousands of dollars. “You do not create an efficient and competitive landscape by charging different amounts for local and international firms,” said one Dubai-based head of a global asset management firm […]
Investors who behave conventionally are likely to get burned if the political standoff over the federal budget and the debt ceiling ends up forcing the United States to default. But portfolio managers and strategists say that if investors put their trading hats on, they may be able to protect themselves and even possibly come out ahead. “The next two weeks could cause a lot of pain in […]
Residential prices in Dubai have risen significantly as confidence has returned to the Dubai real estate sector. This trend is highlighted by recent reports suggesting prices may have increased more in Dubai (+22%) than in any other major global market over the past year. This has resulted in increased discussion on how sustainable are such increases and whether we are in danger of creating another bubble similar […]
President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock that has shut down wide swaths of the federal government, but there was no breakthrough. After more than an hour of talks, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama refused to negotiate, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of […]
Reserve Bank of India data showed the highest ratio of short-term external debt to currency reserves in more than a decade, raising alarm bells at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. The $97 billion maturing in less than a year amounted to 34.3 percent of reserves as of June 30, the highest since at least March 2001, RBI figures released Sept. 30 show. The ratio […]
Dubai, which roiled markets with its request to delay $25 billion of debt payments in 2009, faces the prospect of rising borrowing costs if it succeeds in a bid to hold the Expo 2020 World Fair, Bank of America Corp. said. The emirate needs about 26 billion dirhams ($7.1 billion) of infrastructure spending to host the event, HSBC Holdings Plc analyst Patrick Gaffney said by phone. At […]
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have hired banks to advise on a possible merger of their two main stock exchanges, a state-backed deal that could energise financial markets in the United Arab Emirates, sources familiar with the plan said. Any merger of the exchanges would be one of the biggest reforms in the country’s financial industry in recent years; by making it easier for investors to operate across […]
President Barack Obama on Wednesday scaled down a long-planned trip to Asia, as a U.S. government shutdown entered a second day with no end in sight to the funding row in Congress that triggered it. Obama is expected to leave on Saturday for summit meetings in Indonesia and Brunei. Malaysian media quoted Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying he would now skip a subsequent visit to Kuala […]
Iran’s parliament strongly endorsed President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic bid to dispel mistrust at the United Nations last week during a visit which ended with an historic phone call with President Barack Obama, Iranian media said. The backing from the assembly, controlled by political factions deeply loyal to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a further sign that Rouhani has the support of the Iranian establishment. Khamenei, the […]
The UAE Central Bank is set to launch the first phase of UAE Direct Debit System on October 5. The central bank said yesterday the registration of the banks and finance companies into the ‘Direct Debit System’ has been completed and all banks and finance companies are now ready to use the system. In a statement, the apex bank said an individual or corporate can set up […]
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of India has thrown out a criminal complaint filed by HSBC against Avitel Post Studioz Ltd, which has sister companies in Dubai and Mauritius. After detailed investigation that lasted over three months, the EOW concluded that the allegations raised by HSBC against the company were false. The case was closed after the investigation team found no evidence to substantiate any allegation of […]
Amid low levels of trust in the financial industry and concerns over product mis-selling, a new CFA Institute report aims to improve transparency and investor protection by examining disclosures on costs, performance, and risks associated with packaged retail investment products (PRIPs) Packaged Retail Investment Products: Investor Disclosure Considerations for a Key Information Document, informs the EU policy debate and the draft regulation on PRIPs from the investor […]
Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the country’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has bought NYSE Euronext’s 12 percent stake in the Qatar Exchange, the Doha-based bourse said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal, for which a price was not revealed, makes Qatar Holding the sole owner of Qatar Exchange, which operates the country’s securities market. QIA and NYSE Euronext signed a strategic partnership […]
Abu Dhabi government-owned Al Hilal Bank priced its debut $500 million five-year sukuk issue, a document from lead managers said on Tuesday, as Gulf issuers flood back to the market to take advantage of conducive market conditions. The transaction priced at par with a profit rate of 3.267 percent and a spread of 170 basis points over midswaps, the document said. The spread had tightened significantly from […]
Dubai International airport, which is being expanded to handle 90 million passengers a year, could be shut to boost traffic at a new super-hub under construction in the sheikdom with as much as twice that capacity. Dubai Airports won’t retain the existing base if owning two hubs hampers the take up of flights at its new Al Maktoum site, and could find “alternative purposes” for the prime […]
Today hospitals and health systems worldwide are facing a plethora of challenges; these include aging populations, evolving disease profiles, increasing demand by patients for quality care, mounting cost pressures and an uneven distribution of expert resources. In addition, healthcare delivery is shifting from a focus on specific health episodes to a continuum approach, with a greater emphasis on education and prevention. Luckily, however, technology may hold the […]
Britain’s Vodafone and three Gulf telecoms companies have formed a consortium to launch a 1,400km fibre network to meet rising demand for broadband services in the region. Vodafone, Kuwait’s Zain, du of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwaiti internet service provider Zajil will create the Middle East-Europe Terrestrial System (MEETS) with the long-term aim of connecting the network overland to Europe. MEETS will activate a largely […]
Most regional markets slipped on Monday as fears of a U.S. government shutdown spurred slight profit-taking, but Dubai’s bourse booked its biggest quarterly gain in nearly six years. Dubai’s index shed 0.3 percent, easing off Sunday’s near five-year high. That trimmed its third-quarter gain to 24.3 percent, its best performance since late 2007. Trading volume in the quarter was the highest in four years. Shares in Dubai […]
Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door. “I can’t believe we have our own child at last,” said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle. “We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant […]
The dollar held near a 7-1/2 month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as much of the U.S. government began to shut down after Congress failed to agree a compromise bill to fund government operations. Competing spending measures flew back and forth between Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate late into Monday night in Washington but Congress deadlocked over efforts by some Republicans to […]
The hospital sector is capable of yielding four times of the revenue generated by the hotel industry for the same amount of investment, a leading hospital management expert told the Hotel Show Dubai 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday. The cost of putting up a hospital bed is almost the same as the cost of creating a room in a five-star hotel, but there […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose public support after a trip to the U.S. outweighed the detractors that tried to pelt his convoy with eggs, also has backing from the one who matters most: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After returning from a trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, dozens of people tried to block Rouhani’s way, chanting anti-U.S. slogans. The demonstrators were […]
