|By Matein Khalid| Even as China’s President meets the capo di tutti capi in Seattle, its manufacturing PMI falls to 47, a post Lehman low, with new export orders in a slump. I found it significant that the offshore yuan fell 200 pips to 6.4346 after the PMI. This proves my core argument, outlined a month ago. The Middle Kingdom will respond to its economic decline and […]
Saudi Arabia has withdrawn as much as $70 billion from global asset managers as OPEC’s largest oil producer seeks to plug its budget deficit, according to financial services market intelligence company Insight Discovery. “Fund managers we’ve spoken to estimate SAMA has pulled out between $50 billion to $70 billion from global asset managers over the past six months,” Nigel Sillitoe, chief executive officer of the Dubai-based firm, […]
Gulf Related will borrow 2.3 billion dirhams ($626 million) from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to finance the construction of a shopping mall that will house the first Macy’s store outside the U.S. Gulf Related, a venture between Abu Dhabi’s Gulf Capital and New York-based Related Cos., announced the plan in a statement Monday. The 400-store mall, scheduled to open in 2018, is in Abu Dhabi’s new business […]
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C30) carrying ASTROSTAT, India’s first observatory satellite, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, September 28, 2015. Reuters/Stringer NEW DELHI India launched its first space research observatory and several U.S. satellites on Monday, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to expand his country’s influence in the competitive, $300 billion global space industry. The observatory, named ASTROSAT, […]
Janet Yellen may have unwittingly helped the Indian dollar-loan market rebound from a three-year low. Less than a week after the Federal Reserve Chair delayed raising U.S. interest rates, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. hired 16 banks for a $1.5 billion loan and Rural Electrification Corp. also approached lenders. That takes the pipeline of local dollar-denominated loans planned, mandated or in syndication to more than $5 […]
WASHINGTON — Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters. Among those who have entered or tried to enter the conflict in Iraq or Syria […]
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama announced on Friday that he had reached a “common understanding” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on curbing economic cyber espionage, but threatened to impose U.S. sanctions on Chinese hackers who persist with cyber crimes. The two leaders also unveiled a deal to build on a landmark emissions agreement struck last year, outlining new steps they will take to deliver on pledges they made […]
A logo is pictured at Google’s European Engineering Center in Zurich April16, 2015. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/Files WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a preliminary investigation into whether Google Inc (GOOGL.O) uses its Android operating system to dominate competitors as more consumers go mobile, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The Android mobile platform is a key element in Google’s strategy to maintain revenue […]
Bloomberg|David McLaughlin| Google Inc. is back under U.S. antitrust scrutiny as officials ask whether the tech giant stifled competitors’ access to its Android mobile-operating system, said two people familiar with the matter. The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with the Justice Department to spearhead an investigation of Google’s Android business, the people said. FTC officials have met with technology company representatives who say Google gives priority to its own […]
INTERNATIONAL. Just four per cent of businesses are able to extract the full value from the information they hold, with over a third (36 per cent) lacking the tools and skills they need to do so, according to new research from storage and information management company, Iron Mountain (IRM) and PwC. As a result, 43 per cent of the European and North American companies surveyed obtain little […]
UAE. The Middle East & North Africa ranks well above North America, Europe and Latin America in terms of market growth opportunities according to the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2015. However, the region is lagging behind on a number of other indicators including labour market and financing environment. The GDI – which combines 22 indicators across five growth areas to identify the best business growth […]
UAE. Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States of America are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the Global Innovation Index 2015, while China, Malaysia, Viet Nam, India, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers. The GII 2015 looks at “Effective Innovation Policies for Development” and shows new ways that emerging-economy policymakers can boost […]
|By Ole Hansen| Global markets went quiet ahead of the long awaited Federal Open Market Committee meeting this past week as the first rate hike in almost ten years seemed possible. In the end Janet Yellen and her follow central bankers opted for no change and the statement following the announcement was surprisingly dovish. While US activity and employment data remains strong the extreme market volatility in late […]
QATAR. On Sept. 18, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its ‘AA’ long-term and ‘A-1+’ short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the State of Qatar. The outlook is stable. We also affirmed the ‘AA’ long-term issue ratings on the bonds issued by Qatari Diar Finance Q.S.C. and SoQ Sukuk A Q.S.C. RATIONALE Qatar is a wealthy economy; we estimate its GDP per capita […]
The United Arab Emirates has no plans to abandon the currency’s peg to the dollar, central bank Governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori said. “The dirham peg to the US dollar has served the UAE well over time,” Al Mansoori said in an e-mailed answer to Bloomberg News questions. The central bank “maintains a firm commitment to the peg.” Investors have increased bets that the six Gulf Cooperation […]
INTERNATIONAL. The era of the autonomous vehicle (AV) is fast approaching. Mass-market adoption of AVs will be the greatest inflection point for the automotive industry since the introduction of the assembly line and will confer tremendous benefits on society, according to a new report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, titled Revolution Versus Regulation: The Make-or-Break Questions About Autonomous Vehicles, is being released today. It […]
The new Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are displayed during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, September 9, 2015. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach SAN FRANCISCO/SYDNEY A significant number of Apple Inc customers are reporting their mobile devices have crashed after attempting to upload the new iOS 9 operating system, the latest in a line of launch glitches for the tech giant. Twitter and other social media […]
A magnifying glass is held in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. The U.S. Defense Department is building a massive, electronic system to provide an overview of the vulnerabilities of the military’s computer networks, weapons systems, and installations, and help officials prioritize how to fix them, the deputy commander of U.S. Cyber Command […]
Gulf Business Machines (GBM), a leading provider of IT solutions, leveraging industry-leading technologies in the region, has partnered with the Information Technology Authority (ITA) of Oman to launch a programme aimed at increasing interest and offering opportunities for Omani graduates within the ICT sector. The partnership comes as part of GBM’s ongoing efforts to provide the right tools and programmes to support the continued development of Oman’s […]
The development of autonomous vehicles (AV) hinges on cooperation among technology players in the areas of cybersecurity, high-definition maps, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, said an industry expert. “But there are equally pressing questions about liability, vehicle certification, and regulatory frameworks,” explained said Nikolaus Lang, a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm. “Multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to developing win-win solutions—and […]
Russian Hackers Targeting U.S. Government, F-Secure Says State-sponsored cyberattacks have been tied directly to a hacking group that gathers intelligence for Russia’s Kremlin. F-Secure Labs has just published a white paper that outlines seven years of attacks against governments in the United States, Asia and Europe. A malicious group called the Dukes uses a family of malware toolsets to steal information by infiltrating computer networks and sending […]
The Federal Reserve began a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday with economists evenly split on whether Thursday will see the first official U.S. interest rate rise since 2006. The decision by the U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected on Thursday at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT). U.S. economic data are flashing conflicting signals, with unemployment falling but inflation subdued, while slowing growth in China […]
|By Matein Khalid| The world’s emerging markets have been savaged by multiple economic, banking, currency and political shocks since 2011. Global emerging markets are far too diverse and nuanced to be analyzed as a single asset class but now trade at a 24% valuation discount to developed markets. The financial markets now price draconian scenarios for earnings, exports, sovereign credit, industrial production and economic growth. The shortage […]
ABU DHABI // Government organisations have continued their fightback against claims that the UAE has the most polluted air in the world. Earlier this year, the World Bank released The Little Green Data Book, which said the country had particle pollution levels (PPM) much higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended guidelines. It said the UAE was the “country with the most polluted air”, which was immediately […]
