Dubai-based builder Arabtec Holding said on Sunday it would set up five new subsidiaries as it expands into new markets and infrastructure projects. Two of the units will focus on infrastructure projects inside and outside the United Arab Emirates, one will focus on water and energy project and one will concentrate on the Egyptian market, it said in a bourse statement. Arabtec will also set up an […]
Oman, which faces Iran across the Strait of Hormuz, said it’s poised to start raising cash for a $3 billion rail line offering an alternative route for oil and freight shipments that funnel through the 21 mile-wide channel. The nation of 3.3 million people, located on the southern side of the strait, is considering issuing bonds by the end of 2014 to kick-start funding for the track […]
Commodities moved lower during the course of the week as the diverging outlook between emerging and developed economies continued to raise uncertainty about the demand outlook for commodities. The weakness was primarily driven by losses in both metal sectors with industrial metals being hurt by weak China manufacturing data together with a slowdown in activity ahead of the Lunar New Year shutdown in several Asian markets. Precious […]
Bahrain-based investment management firm Arcapita announced the signing of an agreement to sell Varel International Energy Services, Inc. (Varel), a leading manufacturer of drill bits for the oil and gas, and mining and industrial industries, to Sweden-based Sandvik AB for a total transaction value of approximately $740 million. The closing of the transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and certain environmental due diligence. It is likely […]
U.S. stocks fell for a third week, the longest slump since 2012 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index , after the Federal Reserve cut stimulus even as a rout in emerging markets spurred concern about the global economy. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4 percent to 1,782.59 in the week and reached the lowest level since November on Jan. 29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 180.26 […]
Lenovo Group said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Google Inc’s Motorola handset division for $2.91 billion, in what is China’s largest-ever tech deal as Lenovo buys its way into a heavily competitive U.S. handset market dominated by Apple Inc. It is Lenovo’s second major deal on U.S. soil in a week as the Chinese electronics company angles to get a foothold in major global computing markets. […]
Asian markets rallied on Wednesday after Turkey stunned investors with a huge hike in interest rates, stirring hopes drastic action would short-circuit a vicious cycle of selling in emerging markets and revive risk appetite. European shares were expected to ride the wave of optimism, with financial spreadbetters predicting Britain’s FTSE 100 to open 43-48 points higher, or up by as much as 0.7 percent; Germany’s DAX was […]
DAVOS: Dubai retailer Majid Al Futtaim, which holds the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, plans to invest about $2.3 billion in Egypt in the next few years, its chief executive said on Wednesday, a sign of Gulf investors’ growing interest in the Egyptian economy. “Total investments on the plan, including Carrefour, should be around 16 billion Egyptian pounds over the next four to five years,” Iyad […]
Reliance Industries Ltd., owner of the world’s biggest oil refining complex, reported an unexpected increase in profit as earnings from investments and lower finance costs compensated for a drop in operating income. Net income rose to 55.1 billion rupees ($894 million), or 17.10 rupees a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 55 billion rupees, or 17 rupees a share, a year earlier, according to […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will court global business in Davos next week after winning an easing of some economic sanctions, but any trade bonanza depends on the long-term success of nuclear diplomacy. A U.S. stranglehold on Iran’s access to the international financial system, the uncertain future of talks on its nuclear program beyond a six-month initial deal, and vested interests in the Islamic Republic suspicious of Western […]
|By Asa Fitch| Iranian traders in Dubai are guardedly hopeful that business will rebound as sanctions relief begins to go into effect next week. The European Union and U.S. are set to give Iran access to some of its oil revenues abroad and allow for freer trade in energy products providing the Islamic Republic meets the terms of a six-month agreement stipulating monitoring of nuclear facilities and […]
India’s leading mobile phone operators as well as aspiring new entrant Reliance Industries have applied to bid in what will be the government’s third attempt at auctioning off some radio frequencies in the hope of raising billions of dollars in much-needed revenue for state coffers. Revenues from the new licensing are crucial as the government seeks to rein in its budget deficit but two previous attempts to […]
A deal between Iran and six major powers intended to pave the way to a solution to a long standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will come into force on January 20, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the European Union said on Sunday. Shortly after the interim accord takes effect, an Iranian official added, Tehran and world powers will start negotiating a final settlement of their differences about […]
The long-term future of fields that produce about half Abu Dhabi’s oil remains unclear with only one day of a 75-year partnership with western oil companies left to run. Some of the world’s largest energy companies – ExxonMobil , Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP – have been pumping crude from the Abu Dhabi desert for decades, taking payment in oil. From midnight on Friday, the 9.5 […]
Abu Dhabi will take full control of the UAE’ biggest oilfields when its decades-old venture with four western oil giants ends this weekend, while it weighs new partnerships that could include its long-term collaborators or Asian newcomers. The OPEC member country has held a 60-percent stake in Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) since acquiring an interest in fields that produce over half the United […]
If the medicine tastes bad, it’s probably doing you good. Emerging economies might console themselves with that thought when they’re suffering market cramps and hemorrhaging capital as the U.S. ends its monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve will begin winding down, or tapering, its $85 billion-a-month money-printing program this month, and emerging markets are seeing foreign investment pull back as a result. Last year, around $30 billion fled […]
The decision by India’s top investigating agency to probe a third billionaire-led mining deal in six months puts at risk government efforts to revive $160 billion of stalled projects. The Central Bureau of Investigation said on Dec. 23 it started probing Anil Agarwal, who runs the country’s biggest aluminum and copper producer. It alleged irregularities in his 2002 purchase of the state’s 26 percent stake in Hindustan […]
Dana Gas, the energy producer that restructured debt last year due to delayed payments, rose the most in eight years after it received $53 million from Egypt, stoking bets of better cashflow. The stock surged almost 15 percent, the most since December 2005, to 86 fils at the close in Abu Dhabi. More than 311 million shares were traded, almost nine times the three-month average daily volume. […]
Bond issuance from the Gulf Arab region is set to surge next year on the back of heavy infrastructure spending and refinancing needs, while the Abu Dhabi sovereign may return to the market after an absence of nearly five years. The region’s issuance of conventional bonds and sukuk fell to $28.97 billion this year from $36.90 billion in 2012, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. That […]
BP has signed 30-year deals to develop Oman’s Khazzan tight gas project at an estimated investment of $16 billion, that will help the Omani economy to keep growing and bolster flagging gas exports. The Khazzan gas project, which aims to extract around one billion cubic feet (bcf) per day of gas from deep under central Oman, is a showcase for BP’s tight gas extraction technology and output […]
Japan and Southeast Asian countries called for freedom of the air and sea on Saturday, as China’s military assertiveness raises regional tensions and after U.S. and Chinese warships narrowly avoided collision in the disputed South China Sea. China’s recent announcement of an air defense zone covering disputed islands in the East China Sea and its territorial claims in the South China Sea have raised concerns that a […]
By Lewis Braham Don’t try to catch a falling knife. It’s one of the oldest saws on Wall Street. But to make a lot of money, sometimes you have to get a little bloody. So say contrarians like Brian Singer. The risk is great, “but the return is of such an astounding magnitude, you’re willing to do it,” says Singer, manager of the William Blair Macro Allocation […]
Abu Dhabi’s bourse crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time in five years on Monday, playing catch-up to gains on neighbouring Dubai’s market, which extended a rally driven by the recovery in the real estate sector. Abu Dhabi’s index climbed 0.3 percent to 4,001 points, it’s highest close since September 2008. The market is up 52.1 percent year-to-date, while Dubai’s index has rallied 91.1 percent in […]
Middle East crude for immediate delivery traded at its biggest premium in two years to later shipments last month after Royal Dutch Shell bought an unprecedented number of cargoes. The price gap between the earliest loadings of the benchmark Dubai grade and those for two months later climbed to $2.82 a barrel on Nov. 21, the widest spread since 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The […]
