LONDON Britain’s Theresa May appeared on course to win a crushing election victory in June after opinion polls put support for her ruling Conservative party at around 50 percent, double that of the opposition Labour party. May’s decision to call a June 8 election stunned her political rivals this week and a string of polls released late on Saturday suggested the gamble had paid off, with one […]
Finance ministers and central bankers from around the world have dropped a pledge to resist protectionism, in a further sign that the new US administration’s stance on trade is shifting the global debate. The group from International Monetary Fund member countries issued a statement on Saturday saying they would “promote a level playing field in international trade” but did not reiterate a previous commitment to “resist all […]
The weekly EIA report showed a surprise rise in gasoline inventories and a further rise in oil production, which rattled oil bulls. Image: Shutterstock 22 April 2017 Big commodity swings have been witnessed during the past month, not least in the farm sector where bloated global stocks and the prospect of another bumper year — weather permitting — have led to heavy selling by hedge funds […]
By Leika Kihara and Francesco Canepa | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund members on Saturday dropped a pledge to fight protectionism amid a split over trade policy and turned their attention to another looming threat to global economic integration: the first round of France’s presidential election. Concerns that far-right leader Marine Le Pen and far-left rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon, both critics of the European Union, could top the […]
There are few things more difficult for parents than finding out that their child has a serious illness or disability with a genetic cause. Sadly, it is a scenario that Arab parents have often faced because many congenital conditions are more common in the Middle East than in other parts of the world. Recent work by the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies in Dubai, a division of […]
©AFP WASHINGTON — Thousands of scientists and people from other walks of life turned out in Washington and New York on Saturday for Earth Day events that organisers have framed as a “celebration” of science to counter a growing disregard for evidence-based knowledge. The “March for Science” festivities included “teach-ins” on the National Mall and parades in midtown Manhattan and hundreds of other cities and towns. The […]
“Thousands of new doors opened and rents soared. This created a bubble, and like housing, that bubble has now burst.” – Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters CEO, March 2017 The devastation in the US retail sector is accelerating in 2017, and in addition to the surging number of brick and mortar retail bankruptcies, it is perhaps nowhere more obvious than in the soaring number of store closures. […]
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 […]
More than half of the pupils in UAE schools are classed as overweight or obese. Weight problems are even being identified in infants. Warnings such as these are becoming alarmingly common and leave little doubt that childhood obesity in the country has reached epidemic proportions. These particular findings come from a 2015 study by Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government. As well as discovering that 14 per […]
Challenging market conditions have led to flexible and revised approaches from landlords across Muscat in an effort to entice prospective tenants, according to real estate consultancy Cluttons. The Cluttons Muscat Spring 2017 Property Market Outlook has identified an increasing flexibility of finance terms, as landlords work to ensure high occupancy rates at a time of weaker demand across the real estate market. It said subdued economic activity […]
Two pillars — Trump and China — have supported a bounteous few months for global portfolio investors. But the hope invested in both is starting to fade, casting a bearish tinge over what nevertheless remains a largely optimistic picture. In the case of Donald Trump, expectations that the US president would act swiftly to push though tax reforms, deregulation and bold infrastructure investments are starting to ebb […]
While geopolitical concerns and French election uncertainty are factors, The Wall Street Journal notes that many markets are flashing red on growth as investors begin to return to pre-election bets on the ol ‘new normal’ – a persistently weak economic expansion. There are clear signs that the sugar rush of Donald Trump’s victory and global-growth hopes has faded, raising doubts among some investors about whether stocks can […]
Within the US fixed income market, investors are sending a clear message about the prospect of higher interest rates. In recent weeks, investors have pushed back against a string of leveraged loan transactions, with a handful of deals pulled as money flows into the sector have shrunk. The stumbles underline a diminished appetite for richly valued, floating rate loans, seen as providing investors with some protection from […]
Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) said on Friday its commercial aviation after-sales business was benefiting from robust air travel, while its energy division was getting a lift from stable oil prices, sending shares to a record high. The diversified U.S. manufacturer’s shares rose as much as 3.6 percent to $128.30 in afternoon trading. Honeywell, which made an unsuccessful bid for rival United Technologies Inc (UTX.N) last year, also […]
Tens of millions of iPhone owners are ready to upgrade to 2017 iPhones, fueling the so-called iPhone “supercycle,” market research firm comScore reports. Apple has always enjoyed a loyal fan base and each new product iteration attracts many existing customers looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest. A new report from comScore now reveals that tens of millions of legacy iPhone owners are looking to upgrade […]
21 April 2017 San Francisco – A culture of trust is the key to retaining talent in the Gulf States, according to research and consulting firm, Great Place to Work. Great Place to Work’s annual study of the Gulf States’ Best Workplaces reveals that employees at the top 60 Best Workplaces indicate that managers behaving in a respectful way is the most significant factor for employees to […]
By Kate Holton and William Schomberg | NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON Before last year’s Brexit vote, Scott McCready was struggling to fill his holiday cabins on the coast of southwest England. Now the site is fully booked with British tourists avoiding more expensive foreign trips following a plunge in the pound. This turnaround in the 10 months since Britons decided to leave the European Union […]
The pound was last worth $1.30 on September 30, a day when lawyers were lining up to derail Brexit in the courts, a resilient consumer was challenging economists’ dire post-referendum predictions and carmaker Nissan was demanding compensation for staying in the UK. Investors have become familiar with such Brexit unpredictability. Yet few of them could have guessed how sterling, tweeted by Nordea analyst Martin Enlund as “the […]
The Federal Trade Commission has sent warnings to Instagram celebrities, prompting them to clearly state which of their posts are sponsored. When following celebrities on Instagram, it can get tough at times to distinguish which of their posts are regular and which are paid ads. This could change soon enough, if the FTC has its way. Instagram Celebrities, The FTC Is Watching The FTC has sent more […]
Emirates will shift aircraft to destinations in Malaysia, Oceania and Africa as the airline scrambles for alternatives after eliminating 25 weekly flights to the US in the fallout from President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions. Planes on US routes usually fly more than 80 percent full in the summer season but are now “percentage points” less than that, hurting the flights’ profitability, Emirates President Tim Clark said in […]
The London market broke a four-day losing streak as the week’s spate of sterling-induced selling eased and consumer stocks from Burberry to Unilever put in robust performances. The marginal gains for the FTSE 100 were not enough to reverse Wednesday’s fall into losses for the year for the benchmark. But UBS maintaining that Burberry was its “preferred turnround name in luxury” and top pick in that European […]
By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World financial leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration. Worries over Trump’s approach to trade, taxes, financial regulation and climate change clouded the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, even amid […]
The US has set the stage for a global showdown over steel, launching a national security investigation that could lead to sweeping tariffs on steel imports in what would be the first significant act of economic protectionism by President Donald Trump. The decision to use a 1962 law allowing the US government to limit imports that threaten its security readiness is intended to deliver on Mr Trump’s […]
Underwriting profitability for listed insurers in the UAE has returned in 2016 but is still borderline, according to S&P Global Ratings. The average combined ratio improved to 99 percent in 2016, from its peak of 105 percent in 2015, which marks the return of technical profitability for the market. “While the overall market results look profitable, 15 out of 29 listed insurers still posted combined ratios above […]
