Gold ticked higher on Tuesday to within a whisker of the $1,300-an-ounce level, regaining ground from overnight losses as weaker equities increased its safe-haven appeal. * Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,298.11 an ounce by 0026 GMT. It fell 0.5 percent in the previous session as a short-covering rally after U.S. jobs data fizzed out. * Holdings of the world’s largest platinum-backed exchange-traded fund, Johannesburg’s NewPlat […]
The rupee rallied to an eight-month high, boosted by continued foreign fund inflows into domestic shares, but suspected dollar purchases by the Reserve Bank of India prevented the currency from gaining much further. The intervention on Wednesday was aggressive, with two traders telling Reuters that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) likely bought nearly $1 billion and swapped it in forwards markets. The RBI has long been […]
The U.S. National Security Agency has infiltrated servers in the headquarters of Chinese telecommunications and internet giant Huawei Technologies Co, obtaining sensitive information and monitoring the communications of top executives, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The newspaper said its report on the operation, code-named “Shotgiant,” was based on NSA documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former agency contractor who since last year has leaked data […]
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sued 16 of the world’s largest banks on Friday, accusing them of colluding to suppress interest rates. The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court in New York, was the latest to accuse financial institutions of conspiring to manipulate Libor, or the London Interbank Offered Rate. The FDIC said the defendants’ conduct caused substantial losses to 38 banks that the U.S. regulator […]
|TAP Special|If you are lucky, maybe you can buy your stolen credit card details from the black market yourself. If you are not, chances are that the information will land up with someone else, who will surely want to use it to make money off you. A cybersecurity firm said on Tuesday that it uncovered stolen credentials from some 360 million accounts that are available for sale […]
It is only a matter of time before the stock market plunges by 50% or more, according to several reputable experts. “We have no right to be surprised by a severe and imminent stock market crash,” explains Mark Spitznagel, a hedge fund manager who is notorious for his hugely profitable billion-dollar bet on the 2008 crisis. “In fact, we must absolutely expect it.” Unfortunately Spitznagel isn’t alone. […]
The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), the legal arm of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), is encouraging people to register complaints against real estate agencies making cold calls. Complaints have been received against three companies engaged in making unsolicited calls to potential clients and property owners. “A new regulatory article has been introduced by us that covers telemarketing. “We encourage anyone who has a complaint in this […]
Kickstarter, the fundraising platform used by millions of people to raise capital for creative projects and businesses, said on Saturday that hackers had gained access to some of its customers’ data earlier this week but that the breach had been repaired. “No credit card data of any kind was accessed by hackers. There is no evidence of unauthorized activity of any kind on all but two Kickstarter […]
Gold rose 0.5 percent to a three-month high on Thursday, targeting a break above $1,300 after disappointing U.S. retail sales data weighed on the dollar and increased bullion’s appeal as a currency hedge. The dollar index tumbled 0.4 percent after U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in January and the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, in the latest signs of slowing […]
Janet Yellen, fresh from taking the helm of the Federal Reserve, made it clear on Tuesday she would not make any abrupt changes to U.S. monetary policy, saying the central bank was on track to keep reducing its stimulus even though the labor market recovery was far from complete. In her first public comments since becoming Fed chief earlier this month, Yellen said the central bank must […]
The regulator of Dubai’s tax-free financial centre said on Sunday that Deutsche Bank had been found to be in “material non-compliance” with orders to provide information as part of an investigation into alleged rule breaches. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) had in November last year sued the lender, after almost one year of investigations into the bank’s wealth management division. An out-of-court agreement between the bank […]
Target Corp and Neiman Marcus are not the only U.S. retailers whose networks were breached over the holiday shopping season last year, according to sources familiar with attacks on other merchants that have yet to be publicly disclosed. Smaller breaches on at least three other well-known U.S. retailers took place and were conducted using similar techniques as the one on Target, according to the people familiar with […]
Saudi Arabia seems to have few viable options for pursuing a more independent and forthright foreign policy, despite its deep unease about the West’s tentative rapprochement with Iran. Upset with the United States, senior Saudis have hinted at a range of possibilities, from building strategic relations with other world powers to pushing a tougher line against Iranian allies in the Arab world and, if world powers fail […]
A U.S. judge on Friday narrowed Mashreq PSC’s claims in a lawsuit that alleged ING Groep NV lost more than $40 million of the Dubai bank’s money by investing it in “toxic” securities. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield denied ING’s bid to dismiss the complaint in its entirety, ruling that Mashreq’s breach of contract claim should stand. However, she dismissed the bank’s breach of fiduciary duty and […]
Dahabshiil Holdings Ltd., a Somali company that provides access for overseas citizens to send money there, asked a U.K. court to stop Barclays Plc (BARC) from closing its bank account. The bank gave a “dearth of detail” on its decision, Alan Maclean, a lawyer for Dahabshiil, said at a hearing in London today. The bank’s dominant position in the market for remittances means it will breach competition law if it closes […]
Asian shares, oil prices and the dollar came under pressure on Monday as politicians in Washington showed no signs of making progress to resolve the U.S. budget standoff, while safe-haven gold inched higher. Financial bookmakers expected European shares to follow Asia lower and open down between 0.4 and 0.5 percent. Democrats and Republicans remained far apart on ending the government shutdown, let alone reaching a deal on […]
President Barack Obama said he expects Congress will reach an agreement to raise the nation’s $16.7 borrowing limit in time to avert a default. “America has never not paid its bills,” Obama said in an interview with the Associated Press. “I don’t expect to get there.” The interview was released today as a partial shutdown of the U.S. government entered its fifth day and less than two […]
The low quality in construction labor and raw material used to build several buildings, especially those up for sale, has unleashed a wave of anger at contracting companies in charge of carrying out projects. Many complaints were recently filed by buyers and real estate companies against contracting companies focusing on low quality construction, breach of the terms of signed contracts, the use of cheap construction material, late […]
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 […]
New cable network Al Jazeera America introduced itself to viewers on Tuesday with reports on political strife in Egypt and the impact of climate change on U.S. cities, shortly after a major pay TV distributor declined to carry the channelThe decision by AT&T’s U-verse pay-TV service stemmed from a contract dispute over terms to carry the new network, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said. Al Jazeera responded by […]
(Reuters) – India’s currency cartwheeled to historic lows on Monday while markets in Indonesia took a spill, evidence of how rising U.S. yields are making it harder for emerging nations to fund their current account deficits. The turbulence heightened investor caution ahead of Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, with many fearing they might only add to the confusion about when it might scale […]
Saudi bank deposits posted a new record of SR1.36 trillion by the end of first quarter of 2013. The expansion in credit portfolios was facilitated by this enormous depositary base. Demand deposits remain the main beneficiary given the globally suppressed interest rate environment, according to a report by the National Commercial Bank (NCB). NCB’s customer deposits, the largest in the market, reached SR276.7 billion in March 2013 […]
Small businesses are more prone to be attacked by cyber attacks, according to a study. Many small businesses b server from inside their own networks, without much awareness about how to secure them properly. Their primary concerned is the daily running of their business, which makes insecure servers a prime target for cyber attacks. A recent case is a good example of how these attacks work. On […]
(Reuters) – Saudi Telecom’s (STC) Indonesian unit has picked Moelis & Co to advise it on negotiations with lenders as the operator steps up efforts to restructure a $1.2 billion Islamic loan, two sources familiar with the matter said. STC backed the loan for Axis Telekom, its Indonesian arm, in 2011. But Axis’s poor performance has put the company in breach of some of the terms, four […]
