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 […]
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 […]
Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index trading near a four-month high, before the Federal Reserve decides later today whether to slow its $85 billion of monthly asset purchases. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Fanuc Corp. rose at least 2.7 percent in Tokyo as industrial companies led gains on the Asia-Pacific benchmark index. Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. surged 4.2 percent to a six-year high amid unconfirmed […]
Asian shares surrendered earlier gains while the dollar remained under pressure on Thursday, facing growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s impending stimulus reduction might be smaller than some had believed. The waning likelihood of an immediate U.S. military strike on Syria also continued to undermine the dollar as diplomatic efforts to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control intensified. European stocks are seen edging up, as […]
Benchmark London prices for physical gold fell to US$1363 lunchtime Tuesday, down 2.3% from Monday’s high as the Assad regime in Syria accepted a Russian-backed plan to give its chemical weapons to international control. The Rupee meantime rose to a 2-session high after new Indian trade data showed gold imports falling and exports rising in August. Premiums in Asian markets, over and above London’s benchmark gold price, […]
A week of gains for world stocks petered out on Wednesday and a sell-off in oil and core government debt eased, as talks began on trying to avert a U.S. military strike on Syria against a broadly calm market backdrop. The safe-haven yen was at a seven-week low against the dollar and stood near multi-year lows against the euro and sterling, while shares in Europe inched lower […]
India’s newly installed central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan burnished his international credentials at a 2005 U.S. conference warning about the danger of a potential crisis. Now he has one of his own to contend with. Rajan, 50, joined the front lines of a battle to forestall a record slump in the rupee yesterday with a package of measures that may lure $10 billion in foreign-exchange inflows over […]
The Indian rupee rebounded on Thursday from a record low after the central bank’s move to provide dollars directly to oil companies provided relief to the currency, while a recovery in emerging market currencies also helped offer support. The central bank decision is aimed at removing a major source of dollar demand from the spot market – worth $400 million to $500 million daily – and so […]
Investors are favoring U.S. stocks over emerging markets by the most ever as fund flows and volatility measures show institutions are increasingly seeking the relative safety of American equities. Almost $95 billion was poured into exchange-traded funds of American shares this year, while developing-nation ETFs saw withdrawals of $8.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) trades at 16 times […]
Asian markets were under the cosh on Thursday as a spike in U.S. bond yields drove up borrowing costs globally, and even surprisingly strong data from China couldn’t completely staunch the bleeding. Emerging markets again bore the brunt of the selling as many have come to rely on cheap dollars to underpin domestic demand and fund current account deficits. The currencies of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all […]
A.P. Moeller-Maersk, owner of the world’s biggest shipping line, said concern that emerging markets are losing their growth momentum is overdone. “The underlying story is very good,” Maersk Chief Executive Officer Nils Smedegaard Andersen said in an interview on Aug. 16. “Our expectation remains that the U.S. will be the key driver of growth, but we’re also relatively optimistic on emerging markets. There is growth potential, even […]
Qatar has reiterated there is no going back on its currency’s peg to the US dollar and said the riyal’s rate to the greenback is to be maintained at QR3.64. Local banks and exchange houses involved in foreign exchange dealings must use this rate with a margin of 0.24 percent. While converting the riyal to other currencies, they must use the above riyal-dollar rate as the basis […]
Saudi Arabia is currently working to develop its trade and investment laws with the intent of wooing more foreign direct investments and settling disputes between foreign investors and their local partners. Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the country’s investment facilitator, spearheads the move by adding some points of explanation in the current law in addition to putting a set of new conditions. The Kingdom encourages successful […]
The UAE executive spearheading efforts to develop a series of eye-catching ‘underwater hotels’ at locations around the world has revealed the project has attracted ‘huge’ interest, including an offer to develop several properties for the Chinese market. Khamis Juma Buamim, chairman of Dubai industrial giant Drydocks World and Maritime World, says the collaboration between his firm and European company Deep Ocean Technology on new properties dubbed ‘water […]
The total value of ongoing projects in the GCC region currently stands at $2.62 trillion, with the Kingdom accounting for $875 billion. The Kingdom’s strong construction market is being driven by government spending and high oil prices, according to a recent Global Investment House report. For 2013, the Kingdom budgeted $219 billion for spending, up by 18.8 percent, year-on-year, from 2012. Out of this, almost $76 billion […]
(Arab News): Makkah is witnessing mega-development projects at a combined cost of more than SR300 billion, according to Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar. “The city is enjoying enormous support from the country’s leaders,” he says. Al-Bar said the public transport project, including metro and buses, will make Makkah a smart city that is attractive for investors and end traffic bottlenecks during Umrah and Haj seasons. A ministerial committee, […]
Siemens said it will supply the key components for a major combined-cycle power plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The power station is designed to deliver electricity to the Jazan Industrial city area in the southwest of the country and to the refinery of Jazan, which will additionally be supplied with process steam. The plant will be fueled with gasified refinery residues, which contributes greatly to […]
NEW YORK (AP) — With new public stock offerings for guitar maker Fender and travel booking website Kayak on deck next week, there are signs demand is starting to grow for IPOs after a five-week freeze triggered by a steep decline in financial markets and exacerbated by Facebook’s rocky May 18 debut. Five companies are scheduled to go public next week alone, including Fender, Kayak and Palo […]
Forbes editors and reporters recap the past week, from Ben Bernanke to financial regulation and faltering restaurant stocks, then look ahead to upcoming earnings from the likes of Apple and Facebook. Click below to watch: Stocks had a rough finish to what was shaping up as a decent week. Chipotle landed with the biggest thud, plunging 21.5% after disappointing revenue Thursday, while Advanced Micro Devices dropped 13.2% […]
