European leaders are warning Theresa May over her “completely unreal” expectations of a swift trade deal, as they gathered in Brussels to agree a tough opening stance on Brexit talks. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, briefed an EU summit on Saturday on a recent dinner where the British prime minister said any Brexit exit payment would only pass before 2019 if accompanied by a full trade […]
President Donald Trump’s populist views, reality television stardom, and penchant for Twitter insults all but guaranteed an out-of-the-ordinary first 100 days for the billionaire political neophyte. A look at the data reveals how Mr Trump compares with previous Oval Office occupants. Bills signed into law Enacted legislation for last seven presidents in first 100 days Source: govtrack.us The White House touts that Mr Trump has accomplished more […]
Russia’s central bank cut its key interest rate, citing the country’s continued emergence from a two-year recession — but the move failed to stop the rouble pushing higher on Friday. The cut — by 0.5 per cent to 9.25 per cent — went further than the incremental 0.25 per cent drop the bank implemented last month, suggesting that the bank was confident of reaching its inflation targets […]
When the Nasdaq Composite index first spent two days above the 5,000 mark, it signalled the last gasp of a spectacular bull market. Confidence in internet companies’ power to change the world and mint fortunes was about to collapse. Seventeen years later the market has hit a milestone of 6,000, part of a run of record highs for global equity markets. While stocks have again been rising […]
28 April 2017 Beirut, April 27, 2017 US$ 43.9 billion of assets US$ 36.0 billion of customers’ deposits US$ 17.0 billion of loans to customers Advertisement US$ 3.8 billion of shareholders’ equity US$ 110 million of net profits in the first quarter of 2017, of which 23% from Odea Bank and 10% from Bank Audi Egypt, raising the contribution of entities abroad to consolidated net profits to […]
Emerging market equities have been the darling asset class de jour in 2017, mainly in Asia and Latin America, despite the March FOMC rate hike, a US Dollar Index at or above 100 and a mini-swoon in crude oil after a Saudi-Russian output cut spat. Earnings growth (India/Thailand) a stabilized currency (China), policy reforms (India, Brazil, Indonesia) local interest rate cuts (Brazil) and lower US protectionist policies […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday he will either renegotiate or terminate what he called a “horrible” free trade deal with South Korea and said Seoul should pay for a U.S. anti-missile system that he priced at $1 billion. In an interview with Reuters, Trump called the five-year-old trade pact with South Korea “unacceptable” and said it would be targeted for renegotiation after his […]
April 28, 2017 by: Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong Friday 05.00 BST Overview Equities fell on Friday in Asia as the region’s markets took their cues from an underwhelming session on Wall Street, while currencies pared earlier rises amid mixed signals on the future of Nafta. Hot topic Asia-Pacific equities were choppy after Wall Street investors on Thursday digested the prospects of the Trump administration’s proposed tax […]
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported a 22 per cent surge in sales, despite fears that marketers were withdrawing advertising dollars from its YouTube video site because of worries about ads appearing next to extremist content. The Silicon Valley company’s shares, up 21 per cent in the past year, rose 4 per cent to $928.30 in after-hours trading in New York. Sundar Pichai, Google chief executive, said the […]
Turkish policymakers surprised investors by tightening monetary conditions on Wednesday, helping to support the lira on a day of widespread weakness across emerging market currencies and prompting some to rethink their pessimism towards the country. While the Turkish central bank kept its main interest rates unchanged, it defied expectations by raising the late liquidity lending rate by 50 basis points. Describing the move as “a hawkish surprise”, […]
No president likes being judged on his first hundred days in office, not least Donald Trump. It is, he tweeted last week, a “ridiculous standard” by which to be measured, even though he also claimed to have accomplished “a lot”. With his 100th day in the White House falling on Saturday, investors have more nuanced ideas. For much of 2017 financial markets have doubted the global “Trump […]
Wednesday 03:00 BST Overview Momentum from a buoyant Wall Street carried over into Asia trading as equities rallied while bonds and oil prices continued to slide. Hot topic Stock markets across the region took their cues from Wall Street, where on Tuesday the S&P 500 neared a record closing high and the tech-focused Nasdaq closed above 6,000 for the first time. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 was […]
Just when US trade partners thought it was safe to come out from their hiding places, along comes President Donald Trump to slap a punitive duty on Canada, America’s long-time ally and neighbour — imposing tariffs of up to 24 per cent on imports on its softwood lumber. The new president seemed to have gone quiet on his protectionist instincts, pulling back from a trade confrontation with […]
Tuesday 12:30 BST What you need to know ● Stock markets extend rally on French election relief● Euro adds to gains as Paris’ bond yields steady ● Havens attract sellers, pushing down gold, the yen and Bund prices● Traders eye Nasdaq 6,000 as company earnings slip into fast gear● Brent crude prices higher as base metals firm——————- Hot topic The relief over the French election, which boosted […]
After yesterday’s violent gap up in stocks across the globe in response to the “expected” outcome from the French election, today the risk on sentiment has continued if to a lesser extent, with stocks in Europe, Asia all rising while S&P futures point to a higher open. Yen, gold decline, while the euro traded as high as 1.09 this morning before fading some gains; oil is up […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains. Safe-haven assets, including the yen and gold remained under pressure, while the Canadian dollar fell after the U.S. announced new duties […]
The euro surged in early Asian trading after Emmanuel Macron, investors’ preferred candidate, appeared on track to make it through to the final round of the French presidential election, which opinion polls suggest he will win. Mr Macron, who supports open markets and France staying in the EU, won 23.7 per cent of the vote in the first round vote on Sunday, according to three estimates for […]
By Bate Felix and Daniel Pardon | PARIS/PAPEETE, French Polynesia PARIS/PAPEETE, French Polynesia French overseas territories and French residents in the United States and Canada began voting on Saturday in France’s presidential election, a day before the main first-round of a poll that could change the global political landscape. Of nearly 47 million registered French voters, there are fewer than a million resident in far-flung places like […]
WASHINGTON Member countries of the International Monetary Fund on Saturday pledged to work to reduce global imbalances but failed to repeat their past pledge to resist all forms of protectionism. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF’s steering body, also repeated its past commitments on currency exchange rates. “We will refrain from competitive devaluations, and will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes,” the […]
By Francesco Canepa and Gernot Heller | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Global economic leaders on Friday continued downplaying possible friction with the Trump administration over currencies, trade and other potentially contentious issues, even while acknowledging that much about the U.S. president’s plans remains unclear. On a day when Donald Trump himself seemed focused on domestic matters – promising a new U.S. tax plan next week and announcing reviews of […]
The surge in British pound after Prime Minister Theresa May’s surprise election call has started to impact remittance from UAE’s high net worth individuals (HNWI) and corporates to the UK, a senior UAE Exchange official has said. The sterling hit $1.2876 against the dollar on Tuesday – its highest level since early October 2016. The currency remained steady at the same level on Wednesday. “Since the pound […]
Investor sentiment is leaning towards a market-friendly outcome ahead of Sunday’s first round of voting in the French presidential election. The euro was on course for its best week in three months near $1.07, while a key proxy of election risk, the premium demanded by investors to own French government bonds over German Bunds, has narrowed sharply. “The most likely outcome is for a second round run-off […]
The Federal Reserve appears to believe that the size of its balance sheet matters, but not that bigger is better. The question is, why not? As the Fed pushes ahead with plans to shrink its stock of about $2.5tn of Treasuries and $1.8tn of mortgage-backed securities to “normal”, it is puzzling that officials haven’t provided a compelling case for why the move is either necessary or desirable. […]
Feb 13, 2017 11:59 am IST An earnest band of Indian activists is asking rich people to boycott money, so there’s more for the needy. A motley mix of bankers, Bollywood stars and bikers have pledged their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November move to ban almost 90% of Indian currency to fight counterfeiting, tax evasion and terrorism. A story from The Wall Street Journal investigated […]
