|By Matein Khalid| The April payrolls data demonstrated that US economic growth has hit a soft patch. The US economy only added 160 jobs in April, less than the expected 203,000 average in the first three months of 2016. One disappointing data point does not imply a macroeconomic trend reversal since the US economy added 2.8 million jobs between March 2015 and March 2016. Statistical and measurement errors […]
With at least four months to go before the much-anticipated iPhone 7 is released, Apple fan sites are buzzing with the latest rumor that the new device might lack the innovative Smart Connector feature. Introduced last fall with the new iPad Pro, the Smart Connector enables the transfer of both power and data between two Apple devices without the need for cords or Bluetooth pairing. For example, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The UAE has earned the distinction of being the fastest growing market in the world for card transactions. The UAE is a clear front runner in a rapidly expanding regional payment environment as card transactions experienced an estimated 10 percent growth in 2015 compared to the previous year, amid a total 24 per cent growth in the MEA region, making it the fastest expansion rate in card transactions in […]
|By Matein Khalid| Habib Bank Ltd is one of the Pakistan’s oldest, biggest retail/corporate banks, privatized last year with a 51% controlling stake held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. Its recent price fall from 240 to 172 rupees (PKR, not INR!) is a compelling opportunity to own an undervalued, well managed proxy for consumption and credit offtake in a 190 million population country now […]
A cushy government job, cheap fuel, a mortgage-free home and a bit of five-star travel and luxury shopping were never too much to expect in the Gulf. Yet what previously was taken for granted in the oil-rich region is being replaced by something more familiar to the western world: spending cuts, taxation, a scarcity of jobs and even strikes. There’s discontentment among young populations rarely seen before […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| As the local economy continues to adjust to softening global conditions, overall residential values and rents in Dubai are set for a further decline throughout 2016, according to leading real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons’ Dubai Spring 2016 Residential Property Market Outlook shows that after falling by an average of 3.1% during 2015, residential values fell by an additional 2.2% during the first quarter of […]
|By Matein Khalid| After five years of pathetic under-performance, emerging markets are easily the asset class to own in 2016, as Europe is hit by a resurgent Euro/Italian banking woes and Japan by institutional gaijin selling and a stronger yen. A dovish Janet Yellen has talked down the US dollar and deferred the timing of FOMC interest rate hikes. The Chinese Politburo and People’s Bank have managed to […]
A man is seen near cyber code and the U.S. National Security Agency logo in this photo illustration taken in Sarajevo March 11, 2015. Reuters/Dado Ruvic SAN FRANCISCO Internet traffic to Wikipedia pages summarizing knowledge about terror groups and their tools plunged nearly 30 percent after revelations of widespread Web monitoring by the U.S. National Security Agency, suggesting that concerns about government snooping are hurting the ordinary […]
By TIM ARANGO April 25, 2016 BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces, backed by American airstrikes and advised by American officers, have been making strides in Anbar Province, slowly taking back territory from the Islamic State. But in Falluja, a city in Sunni-dominated Anbar that has been in the hands of the Islamic State longer than any other in Iraq or Syria, civilians are starving as the Iraqi Army and militias […]
UAE. End of Service Gratuity (Gratuity) is a statutory severance pay across most Middle Eastern jurisdictions and one which is conceptually analysed as akin to a retirement savings scheme or pension scheme. This article explores some of the common pitfalls and tricky issues which arise in relation to statutory Gratuity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under Federal Law No.8 of 1980 Regarding the Organisation of Labour […]
NASA and the U.S. Department of State were among the federal agencies that received low marks on IT security, according to a recent report card issued by the New York-based firm Security Scorecard. Also receiving low grades were the states of Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Washington. The 2016 U.S. Government Cybersecurity Report, released earlier this month, analyzed the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of some 600 local, state and federal government […]
A generic picture of a Xerox logo on a photocopier. TECOM Reuters/Catherine Benson/Files Xerox Corp reported a 4.2 percent fall in quarterly revenue, hurt by a strong dollar and lower sales of printers and copiers, sending its shares down 12 percent in morning trade. The company is focusing on its services business, which offers business process outsourcing and document outsourcing, as sales of printers and copiers, its […]
The Lexus NX is a vehicle of firsts for the luxury brand from Toyota. It was the first compact crossover from Lexus, the first with a turbocharged engine, and the first example of a more extreme design language. This new, aggressive exterior styling is now showing up on other Lexus models, like the new RX 350 F Sport we tested earlier this month. While some won’t like […]
BANGKOK After more than two years of riding high on growing demand for cloud data storage, Thailand’s hard disk drive exporters are bracing for a fall from grace. Data due later on Monday will likely show Thai exports of hard disk drives (HDDs) in March extended a run of double-digit growth after jumping 45 percent in the first two months of 2016 to $1.1 billion. The rise […]
UAE. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, today released its first quarter (Q1 2016) Dubai Real Estate Market Overview report, assessing the latest trends in the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors. In Q1 2016, it has been observed that most segments continue to soften across the Dubai market, but long term outlook still remains positive due to future growth drivers. Commenting on […]
UAE. The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey from ACCA and IMA, released today, found that more half of firms are either cutting or freezing employment, while only 14% are increasing investment in staff. Responding to the findings, Faye Chua, ACCA head of business focus said: “Take North America out of the equation and the economic picture painted by this survey isn’t a pretty one. Emerging markets are […]
A Volkswagen logo is pictured at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 22, 2016. Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke BEIJING Volkswagen AG is optimistic that its positive sales trend from the two previous quarters will continue in China, the world’s biggest auto market, its China chief Jochem Heizmann said on Sunday. Volkswagen also plans to invest 4 billion euros ($4.49 billion) with its joint venture partners in China this year, […]
Oil advanced to a five-month high as declining U.S. crude production provided more evidence that the market is rebalancing. Futures rose 1.3 percent in New York, bringing this week’s gains to 8.3 percent. U.S. crude output dropped a sixth week, while production in Colombia fell last month. Lower prices have curbed investment in new fields. Schlumberger Ltd. cut more jobs in the first quarter as the world’s largest […]
|By Matein Khalid| While the S&P500 fell only 1.2% last week, things will get uglier in April and May. Fed chair Yellen is playing with fire in talking down US interest rates and inflation risk. The Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s barometer of greed and fear, does not capture the rising global financial and political risks at only 15. Market breadth, sector divergence, smart money flows, sentiment, leadership, […]
Top executives at the world’s largest oil-trading houses said the worst of the market’s woes are probably over, with some predicting prices will climb to $50 a barrel by next year. “The down market is behind us,” Torbjorn Tornqvist, chief executive officer of Gunvor Group Ltd., said on Tuesday at the FT Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne. “It is the beginning of the end of that for […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The cut in housing allowances implemented by companies in Abu Dhabi is creating further strain on the higher end of the emirate’s residential market, according to Cluttons Abu Dhabi Spring 2016 Property Market Outlook. This underscores the need to address the capital’s lack of affordable housing options, Cluttons said. Cluttons’ Abu Dhabi Spring 2016 Property Market Outlook report shows that the shrinking pool of […]
India’s most reliable source of foreign funding is under threat. Remittances fell to $15.8 billion last quarter, the lowest since April-June 2011 and a 9.4 percent drop from a year earlier, as the global slowdown and slumping oil prices reduce demand for foreign workers. Indians working abroad — from construction laborers in Dubai to Silicon Valley engineers — send home the most money in the world, helping to pay for […]
|By Matein Khalid| “Stop the murder, stop the lies, out, out, you nest of spies!” So chanted the crowd outside South Africa House on Trafalgar Square in the autumnal mists of London circa 1988. The anti-apartheid struggle was the moral compass of my generation, from the Soweto riots to Steve Biko’s murder to the horrific “necklacings in the townships and killing fields of the Limpopo to Madiba’s release […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Hedge funds which bet on Saudi riyal’s dollar peg are reported to have lost heavily as the price rebound in the oil has apparently removed all immediate possibilities of Saudi Arabia abandoning the currency’s peg with the dollar. Several US hedge funds are understood to be among the losers. According to Bloomberg, contracts used to speculate on the kingdom’s exchange rate in the […]
