After inching up 0.15 percent last week, the U.S. Comex gold futures jumped 3.72 percent this week and ended at $1,361.10 on Thursday. During Asia Friday morning, the gold futures traded as high as $1,372. The Dollar Index retreated 0.72 percent in the past two days and was flat week-to-Thursday. The S&P 500 Index and the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 1.94 percent and 0.20 percent respectively […]
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 […]
Gold may extend a rally from a two-month high as an increase in demand from jewelry buyers in China and India helps counter a drop in assets under exchange-traded funds backed by bullion. Prices may rally to as much as $1,550 an ounce by the end of the year, said Jeffrey Rhodes, managing director of the financial institutions division of the Kaloti Jewellery Group, a Dubai-based gold […]
The Sultanate’s construction sector is expected to grow by 8.4 per cent to OMR1.7 billion, according to a research report released by Business Monitor International. The BMI in its report estimated a real growth of 11.9 per cent year-on-year for 2012, with industry value reaching OMR1.5 billion. The Omani construction and infrastructure sectors have defied global recession trends thanks to backing from oil-fuelled state coffers. The Central […]
Gold rose to the highest in almost two months and silver capped the biggest weekly rally since 2008 on signs of higher physical demand for precious metals. Global bar and coin purchases reached a record last quarter and jewelry usage rose to the most since 2008, World Gold Council figures showed this week. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect the metal to rise next week, four were […]
Gold traders are the most bullish in five months on signs that demand for coins and jewelry increased during a plunge in prices that prompted billionaire investor John Paulson to cut his holding for the first time since 2011. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, four were bearish and five neutral, the highest proportion of bulls since March 8. Consumer buying of […]
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 […]
(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 […]
Abraaj Group announced the acquisition of a “significant” stake in two student accommodation assets in the Turkish city of Istanbul. The value of the stake was not disclosed. Abraaj will invest in Republika Academic Apartments along with Turkish institutional investor BLG Capital, which is also the developer of Republika. The transaction gives Abraaj “substantial ownership” of two properties located in Istanbul’s student areas of Ortakoy and Buyucekmece. […]
Bloomberg By George Smith Alexander & Anto Antony – Aug 13 India’s economy is growing at the slowest pace in a decade, companies are burdened by record debt and governance is so bad that even local cement billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is reluctant to invest in the country. Yet some foreign entities, from Diageo Plc to Qatar’s government, are undaunted, finding buying opportunities as Indian firms look […]
DUBAI, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Lenders including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and China Development Bank are resisting calls by Saudi Telecom (STC) to restructure a loan that could potentially leave them with losses of up to $600 million, banking and industry sources said. The tussle over the $1.2 billion loan highlights the risks banks face extending loans to state-owned companies in the Middle East, where billions of dollars […]
By Arif Sharif Aug 12 (Bloomberg) Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB) plans to expand in North Africa as the lender controlled by the emirate’s ruling family seeks to access more-populous markets. The bank applied for licenses in Algeria and Libya and is considering Tunisia and Morocco, Chief Executive Officer Tirad Mahmoud, said in an Aug. 4 interview. Interest in Shariah-compliant banking has increased since 2011, when […]
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’s commercial property sector is back into the reckoning with growing interest from global occupier and investment segments, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). In its new report, ‘Global Commercial Property Survey’, Rics said: “Further improvements in sentiment in both the occupier and investment segments of UAE real estate market show that the tone in the property industry is continuing to gain ground, […]
New figures have revealed an addiction to technology amongst UAE residents, with 71% stating that they could not live without their laptops or smartphones. Commissioned by dmg events Middle East as it gears up for the December launch of the region’s largest consumer lifestyle event – The Life & Style Show UAE – the survey provides unique insight into the attitudes of UAE residents towards all-things tech. […]
By Peter Schiff I’ve been emphasizing for months that the current correction in the gold price is a result of speculative money fleeing the market and not any reflection of gold’s long-term fundamentals. Unfortunately, there is so much money to be made (and lost) by day trading that my cautions have once again fallen on deaf ears. Well, it looks like the so-called “technicals” are starting to […]
RAK Airways has commenced its operation to Amman and Islamabad. The launch flight to Amman, Jordan, was inaugurated with rose flowers by Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Director of Civil Aviation, Ras Al Khaimah and Vice Chairman of RAK Airways as well as Murabit Al Sawaf, President and CEO of the airline. Speaking on the launch, Al Sawaf said, “Amman is our 11th destination and this […]
DUBAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) – 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. U.S. dollar bond issuance in the Gulf, conventional and sukuk, stands at about $17.3 billion year-to-date, up from $11.4 billion in the same period a year […]
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut shipments by the most since December as refiners in the U.S. and Europe conduct seasonal maintenance, tanker-tracker Oil Movements said. The group, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will cut exports by 740,000 barrels a day, or 3 percent, to about 23.7 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Aug. 24 from the period […]
(Reuters) – Lebanon needs to spend at least $20 billion to improve its basic infrastructure otherwise the high growth the country has been witnessing will “dwindle and vanish,” the economy and trade minister said on Wednesday. Lebanon is famous for its robust service-oriented sectors, but many investors are discouraged from setting up businesses in a country where power cuts are frequent, road networks beyond the capital are […]
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 […]
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — In a world where financial rescues dominate headlines, U.S. government bond funds played hero yet again, rescuing portfolios in a tough second quarter. Sound familiar? Analysts have been pegging the end of the decades-long (and surely stretched?) Treasury rally ad nauseam. But Europe’s festering credit crisis, weakening Chinese economic growth, and a bumpy U.S. recovery combine to pressure the Federal Reserve and its counterparts […]
(Reuters) – India’s economy will grow at its slowest pace in a decade this fiscal year, with tight monetary policy, political gridlock and a weakening global economy prompting analysts to slash their forecasts, a Reuters poll showed. Even as growth falters, the rupee has been hitting all-time lows against the dollar, the government is struggling with bloated fiscal and current account deficits and inflation has remained stubbornly […]
