BEIJING China’s economy is on a steady growth path as 2016 ends, supported by a housing boom and billions in government investment, but the mood of policymakers is more cautious than celebratory as they face “complexity” in the new year. Controlling risks has been a constant refrain in recent months as the focus of policymakers switches to taming asset bubbles and checking unbalanced growth stemming from efforts […]
Social media firm Snap Inc may be the highest profile tech IPO planned for 2017, with the potential to raise billions. But more than a dozen expected stock offerings of relatively obscure software firms targeting business customers – little-known names such as Apttus, Tintri and Okta – could be just as important in thawing a long-frozen IPO market, according to investment bankers and advisers who work on […]
By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. dollar slipped on Friday but notched its fourth straight year of gains against a basket of major currencies. The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, gained about 3.7 percent for the year. The index rose about 7.1 percent during the fourth quarter, more than half that gain coming since […]
Investors’ positions fluctuated wildly this year after unexpected election results in the UK and US upended markets, ultimately propelling a global stock rally and selling of government bonds as portfolio managers readied for the arrival of fiscal stimulus and inflation. A $66bn rotation into US stocks over the past eight weeks reflects expectations for faster global growth and inflation in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise US […]
Oil prices were on track for their biggest annual gain since 2009 after the OPEC grouping and other major producers agreed to cut crude output to reduce a global supply overhang that has depressed prices for two years. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 12 cents to $53.62 a barrel by 1400 GMT on Friday, while Brent front-month March crude futures were down 19 […]
There are two stories we can tell about US higher education. In the first, public two- and four-year colleges face increasing student service costs, 20 percent less state support than they received before the recession, and a shortfall they pass onto students, who now graduate with an average of $30,000 of debt. In the second story, those institutions have contained costs, keeping tuition increases at inflationary levels, […]
A year ago the coffers at Argentina’s central bank were empty as the country teetered on the brink of a currency crisis. Now banks are scrambling to fly dollars back to the US as their vaults fill to bursting with piles of cash. That would sound like good news for Alfonso Prat-Gay, who as finance minister this week boasted that his tax amnesty had already repatriated $90bn hidden […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan Wall Street aimed to end 2016 on a positive note, setting up the Dow for its best annual performance since 2013 amid increasing optimism about the outlook for the economy. The markets have shown surprising resilience to major political events, such as Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president in November. U.S. stocks, […]
A team of researchers made a significant breakthrough which will help patients with heart problems all over the world. The scientists managed to create synthetic stem cells, which can help the heart tissue regenerate just as well as normal stem cells, while also avoiding the complications associated with them. Promising Results A team of American and Chinese researchers joined efforts in order to provide a better treatment […]
Financial markets in 2016 endured an escalation of negative interest rates, the collapse and subsequent rebound in commodity prices and fluctuating stock market valuations. The test for investors began in week one, as fears of a China slowdown roiled stock indices weeks after the Federal Reserve began to normalise policy. Over the ensuing months, the Brexit vote and US election would prove significant mile markers, shift thinking […]
The number of new mutual funds launched in the US fell sharply in 2016, reflecting the crisis of confidence in active management and the shift by investors into exchange traded funds. The number of mutual funds shutting down has also jumped to levels not seen since the financial crisis, according to the latest figures from the research group Morningstar. The result is that the total number of […]
Since the economic crisis of 2008, Spain has seen a steady trend of increasingly fewer births. In the first half of 2016, 12,998 more people died than were born in Spain and the number of newborns fell by 4.6%. Put simply, as El Pais reports, Spain’s population is shrinking at a rate of 72 people per day, essentially due to a historically low birthrate, according to a […]
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; December 30, 2017 As the 10th anniversary year of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, draws to a close, industry watchers can reflect on 12 months that have marked a historic milestone for the company and a pivotal moment for the renewable energy sector as a whole. During the decade since Masdar was established, the UAE has cemented a global reputation for […]
HONG KONG China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], one of the world’s largest telecom equipment makers, said on Friday it expects 2016 revenue growth to slow slightly to 32 percent and forecast greater uncertainties next year. The Shenzhen-based company, which competes with Sweden’s Ericsson (ERICb.ST) for the top spot in the global market for telecoms equipment, sees 2016 revenue hitting 520 billion yuan ($74.8 billion), said Eric […]
Saudi Arabian commercial bank deposits rose to their highest level this year in November, a sign that a liquidity crunch due to low oil prices is easing as the government liquidates foreign assets to pay its bills, official data showed on Wednesday. Bank deposits climbed to 1.624 trillion riyals ($433 billion) from 1.610 trillion riyals in October, the fourth straight month-on-month gain, the central bank figures showed. […]
The Singapore government has invested significant resources and efforts in building up a thriving startup environment, but its inhabitants must now take risks and look beyond local shores. Jeffrey Paine, general partner at Golden Gate Ventures, believed Singapore’s startup scene had progressed well over the last six to eight years. He said a number of successful startups had grown and executed well in the region, as well […]
Wall Street’s most important equity barometer is on track for its biggest annual recovery since the beginning of the bull market, underscoring the sharp turn in investor sentiment following the worst start to a year on record. The S&P 500 index is poised for an 11 per cent gain in 2016, shaking off a brutal start that at its lowest point in February left it down 10.5 […]
Russia is set to round off a year of rejuvenated global standing with the distinction of watching its currency stand apart from other major economies and resist US dollar strength. The rouble has been the only major currency to appreciate against the dollar since the end of September and, so far this year, has outperformed rivals, up more than 21 per cent against the dollar to Rbs60.48. […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan Wall Street looked set to open little changed on Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 index suffered its biggest fall in two months, putting a damper on a post-election rally. A report showed the number of Americans applying for jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 265,000 last week, indicating sustained strength in the labor market. U.S. equities had been enjoying a rally since […]
On October 17, every employee at Dentsu — Japan’s biggest advertising agency and arguably the country’s most influential company — received the same, catastrophic-sounding message from the company’s president, Tadashi Ishii. “The approved way of working at our company cannot be accepted by stakeholders, including the authorities,” said the memo, according to media reports. Coming a month after Dentsu was caught overbilling hundreds of clients, and just […]
M&A: back with a bang Deal activity was vigorous with much of it concentrated just below the level of the industry’s biggest companies. Nasdaq bought International Securities Exchange for $1.1bn, while CBOE Holdings announced a $3.2bn deal for Bats Global Markets in September. Of most significance, the pending €24bn tie-up between London’s LSE Group and Deutsche Börse, which will create Europe’s largest exchange. As the chart above […]
(Image: file photo) Legacy vendors and the cloud The cloud has devastated revenue, growth and margins of legacy vendors. Any CFO can look online to see what similar capacity, performance, and higher availability costs compared to the huge capital costs of traditional RAID arrays. 2016 saw the world’s largest independent storage company — EMC — bought by Dell, after shopping itself to all the big system vendors. […]
Principal Investment Arm of the Government of Dubai Grows its Portfolio to AED 736.8 Billion Dubai 28 December 2016 Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) announced its consolidated financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2016 showing Revenues of AED 82.5 Billion and a Net Profit of AED 10.3 Billion. These results are achieved against a backdrop of lower oil and commodity prices, a strong US […]
Almost all – nine in 10 – Middle East workers believe that employee loyalty is tied to higher productivity, but ‘loyalty’ for them is no longer about remaining in the same company for a long period of time, a survey suggests. Recruitment website Bayt.com surveyed 8,223 respondents from countries including the UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Qatar, KSA and Yemen between November and […]
