The patriotism of wealthy overseas Indians has helped the country avert economic crises in the past and it is little surprise that embattled policymakers are turning to them again to plug a record trade gap that is battering the rupee. This time, though, big investors among the more than 25-million overseas Indian community – the world’s second-largest diaspora – are staying away as the economic outlook darkens […]
India’s incoming central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has little room to use borrowing costs to spur Asia’s third-largest economy as the rupee plummets, interest-rate swaps show. The cost to lock in rates for a year using the contracts surged 267 basis points this quarter to 10.16 percent yesterday as investors bet the Reserve Bank of India will prolong a cash crunch it created to shore up the […]
India’s rupee plummeted more than 3 percent to a record on concern a surge in oil prices will worsen the current account and push the economy toward its biggest crisis in more than two decades. Stocks and bonds plunged. The U.S., France and the U.K. are considering limited military action against Syria after concluding the regime used chemical weapons against civilians, fanning concern unrest will disrupt Middle […]
The Indian rupee hit a record low and shares slumped on Tuesday after parliament’s approval of a $20 billion plan to provide cheap grain to the poor renewed doubts about the government’s resolve to control spending ahead of elections due next year. The alarm over India’s fiscal deficit eclipsed an announcement by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram that the government had approved infrastructure projects worth 1.83 trillion rupees […]
Saudi Arabia and India topped the charts for sending the most tourists to Dubai in the first half of this year as a new report by Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) revealed record-breaking figures. More than 5.5 million tourists visited Dubai from January to June this year, representing an increase of 11.1 per cent over the previous year. Director-General of DTCM Helal Saeed Almarri said: […]
Airports in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) experience local disruptions – such as those that stem from fog – which, annually, affect over 200 flights and 30,000 passengers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone. In addition, according to Oxford Economics, disruptions from the 2010 spread of Icelandic volcanic ash over European airspace had a $253 million net impact on the aviation sector in the Middle East […]
Arcapita Bank B.S.C. announced the sale of 3PD Holding, Inc, a leading last-mile logistics company in the United States and Canada, for $365 million. 3PD was acquired by XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO), one of the fastest growing transportation logistics companies serving North America. Arcapita acquired a majority stake in 3PD in 2006 as a growth asset that offered significant opportunity due to the fragmented and growing […]
High oil prices and poor returns on safe assets have pushed the GCC’s huge sovereign wealth funds into riskier investments in recent years, a report from Moody’s Investors Service says. Moody’s doesn’t attempt to quantify the shift, but even minor changes in strategy by Gulf funds are carefully watched given their hefty sway in global financial markets. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which Moody’s estimates to hold […]
The commodities sector looks set for a relatively benign near-term future according to Saxo Bank, the multi-asset trading and investment specialist. Gold and silver should see a mild recovery over the next quarter and oil looks set to remain at current levels, struggling to push past previous highs. Any expectation that WTI crude will re-establish its historical premium over Brent looks improbable. Saxo Bank believes that changing […]
By Jeanette Rodrigues & Ye Xie – Aug 14 Bloomberg: India increased efforts to stem the rupee’s plunge and stop capital outflows that are pushing the economy towards its biggest crisis in more than two decades. The Reserve Bank of India, whose Governor Duvvuri Subbarao steps down next month, cut the amount local companies can invest overseas without seeking approval to 100 percent of their net worth, […]
Two Gulf Arab borrowers have attracted heavy investor demand for international bond sales in the past two weeks, but higher yield premiums are prompting many other potential issuers in the region to seek alternative funding sources. In the case of Saudi Arabia, companies that might have issued bonds in the international market may now choose to issue in the country’s liquid riyal-denominated bond market. In May, a […]
BEIJING/MOSCOW (Reuters) – China’s biggest energy firm PetroChina will join Exxon Mobil in developing Iraq’s giant West Qurna oilfield and is in talks with Lukoil to buy into a second project at the field, industry sources said on Friday. China is already the top foreign player in Iraq’s southern oilfields and a deal at West Qurna would boost its dominance and could make PetroChina the biggest single […]
The UAE Banks Federation has announced its firm support for the successful implementation of the UAE’s m-Government initiative, announced earlier this year by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The UAE Banks Federation (UBF) has formed a committee comprising representatives of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Mashreq Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, National Bank of […]
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 (Reuters) – A state judge on Friday temporarily blocked plans by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to sell certain branded products at J.C. Penney stores. The preliminary injunction was a win for Macy’s , which has sued Martha Stewart Living claiming it has exclusive rights to sell certain Martha Stewart products including soft furnishings, dinnerware and cookware. In issuing the preliminary injunction, New York State Supreme […]
Europe’s debt crisis has many American investors closely watching the euro. Since the euro can impact U.S. investors, Americans should be aware of the euro’s worth. Chuck Butler, president of EverBank World Markets and author of The Daily Pfennig, explained that if the euro is trading around $1.2950 (as it was on May 9, 2012), 100 euros would be worth $129.50. If the euro falls 1 percent, […]
