The Bank of England upgraded UK growth forecasts significantly for the second time in six months on Thursday in the latest indication the central bank’s once-dire outlook for the economy after June’s Brexit vote has been proven overly pessimistic. The bank said it now predicts gross domestic product will grow 2 per cent this year, the same as last year and up from 1.4 per cent forecast […]
La Villette, a corrugated iron convention hall on the northern rim of Paris, was meant to be François Fillon’s launch pad towards the French presidency after winning the centre-right nomination in a landslide. But on Sunday he stood in the packed venue, days after claims emerged that the Republican candidate had allegedly employed his wife in a fake parliamentary job for years and, suddenly, victory seemed to […]
Currency traders are in a bind. Has the dollar rally run out of steam and is it ripe for a big sell-off, or has bullish momentum paused ahead of another leg higher? Here are the pros and cons for the currency as we approach several key events in February. What’s bugging the dollar? Investors’ second thoughts. Dollar trading in recent months can be split into three phases. […]
With Google and Facebook gobbling up marketing budgets, it’s worth noting where the social networking giant is going and the burning issues for decision makers looking to leverage the platform. Facebook’s fourth quarter results were strong across the board with engagement surging and a lot of executive chatter about video. Here are the key takeaways to note. Video. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said video on the network […]
Indian newspapers that usually deploy their best Photoshoppers to create weird and wonderful images to accompany their budget coverage were remarkably restrained Thursday, bar one exception. In previous years, newspapers have competed to place Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in usual places and positions. In one Economic Times graphic last year, the pair were in a souped-up autorickshaw and in a Times of […]
The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at 0.25%, gilt purchase program at GBP435BN, and corporate-bond plan at GBP10b, voting 9-0 on all 3 decisions. The BOE also raises growth forecasts, while keeping its inflation forecasts broadly unchanged, and said the current policy stance “depended on the trade-off between above-target inflation and slack in the economy.” The central banks also reiterated that “monetary policy could […]
ULAANBAATAR/HONG KONG Private citizens in Mongolia are donating cash, jewelry, gold and even horses to help the government make a near $600 million payment to bondholders next month. The cash-strapped nation has been embroiled in an economic crisis brought about by a collapse in foreign investment, slowing growth in China and weak commodity prices. Its currency, the tugrik, lost nearly a quarter of its value last year. […]
ABU DHABI // Fatima Al Marzouqi is helping to steer the next generation of Emiratis toward careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. As head of Mubadala’s education and training division, she plays a crucial and direct role in developing academic programmes that introduce pupils to Stem, and professional training opportunities that offer students and recent graduates hands-on experience with major engineering and manufacturing companies at home […]
Grab has announced plans to invest US$700 million in Indonesia over the next four years, as part of efforts to increase its footprint in a market where it has seen growth. The Southeast Asian ride-sharing operator said Thursday the new investment would support the Indonesian government’s ambition of becoming the region’s largest digital economy by 2020. It would include plans to set up a research and development […]
UAE national carrier Etihad Airways and German airline Lufthansa have announced a “deep and wide” partnership that includes codesharing, catering and aircraft maintenance. Etihad’s outgoing CEO James Hogan described the deal as “the most significant non-equity partnership with an airline that we have announced”. It marks a shift away from equity investments towards operations collaborations at a time when Etihad is reviewing the equity partnerships with an […]
TOKYO Sony Corp on Thursday cut its full-year outlook for operating profit on Thursday after the Japanese TV-to-gaming group took a $1 billion writedown on its struggling movie business. Sony forecast group operating profit of 240 billion yen ($2.13 billion) for the year ending in March, down from a previous estimate of 270 billion yen. It also said October-December operating profit fell to 92.4 billion yen from […]
Designs have been unveiled for largest tertiary children’s hospital, the largest hospital of its kind in the world, which is to be built in Kuwait. Design firm SSH was appointed by Kuwait’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Public Works last year, with the project being undertaken by SSH in association with global architects HKS and engineering firm WSP. The hospital will feature a total of 792 […]
TOKYO Asian shares inched up to four-month highs while the dollar was finding its feet on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve stuck to its mildly upbeat economic view but gave no hint of accelerating rate hikes. While strong economic data from the United States and elsewhere have underpinned risk assets, uncertainty and concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies have markets on edge. “With many of […]
By Rodrigo Campos | NEW YORK NEW YORK The S&P 500 edged higher on Wednesday to cap a four-day losing streak, buoyed by gains in Apple shares and after the Federal Reserve kept U.S. interest rates unchanged, as expected. Apple (AAPL.O) shares rose 6.1 percent to $128.75, its highest close in a year and a half. This made it the biggest positive influence on the three major […]
Blackstone-backed Invitation Homes began trading on Wednesday above its $20 a share initial public offering, as investors latched on to positive signals in the property rental market. The Dallas-based real estate investment trust, which allows investors to buy and sell shares in a company that owns single-family rental properties, raised $1.54bn from its IPO on Tuesday, the largest public offering since mid-2015, according to Bloomberg data. However, […]
Lufthansa believes the rapid growth phase of Gulf airlines is coming to end, which could help to ease some of the pressure in a highly competitive industry, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Speaking after signing catering and maintenance deals with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said there were signs Gulf rivals were reaching the limits of their recent growth. “I’ll leave that to the […]
The Federal Reserve signalled it remains on course for further increases in short-term interest rates this year as inflation heads back towards target, even as it avoided giving strong indications on the timing of the next move. The US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee left the federal funds target range at 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent in a unanimous decision, following a quarter-point increase […]
India’s government on Wednesday announced its budget which laid out its strategy to boost economic growth following its move in November to void 86% of high-value bank notes. The Wall Street Journal’s South Asia Deputy Bureau Chief Eric Bellman and reporter Newley Purnell will be live on Facebook on Thursday at 10 a.m. India time (11:30 p.m ET) in New Delhi to discuss the budget. Send us […]
The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade totalled AED1.172 trillion ($320 billion) for the first nine months of 2016, up by 0.1 percent on the same period in the previous year. Preliminary data of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) indicated that the share of imports in the UAE’s total non-oil trade amounted to AED721.2 billion, a rise of 1 percent. Native gold and semi-processed gold topped the list of […]
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley managed a fine balancing act in his budget announcement Wednesday, increasing spending to stimulate growth while at the same time ensuring the government’s financial health isn’t weakened. Investors reacted positively to his announcements, as the benchmark stock index climbed as much as 1.8% after he presented the budget to Parliament. Measures to boost a variety of sectors and strengthen the government’s efforts […]
Millions of Indians are preparing to vote in the biggest test of public opinion since prime minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000-rupee notes three months ago – a move which has plunged the country into an unprecedented cash crisis and sent the economy into a tailspin. Over the next four weeks, starting today, a series of regional elections will be held across India […]
Israel has approved the construction of 3,000 more settlement homes in one of the government’s biggest announcements on its building programme in recent years. The statement on Tuesday evening is a further sign that the rightwing government feels it has a free hand to build housing for Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories following the election of US President Donald Trump. It came as Israel began […]
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook says India’s move to replace its largest-denomination bank notes with newly designed ones has presented a challenge in India, but the tech giant is still bullish on sales growth in the South Asian nation. Speaking on a call with analysts Tuesday after Apple announced last quarter results, Mr. Cook said “despite the demonetization move in India that created lots of economic pressure there last […]
The Federal Reserve is likely to hold rates unchanged on Wednesday but keep the markets primed for further monetary tightening as it surveys steady growth and a tightening labour market. Recent statements from Fed chair Janet Yellen have suggested that she does not want to rush into a third rate increase, but that she also has no intention of letting the US economy overheat. This points to a […]
