|By Matein Khalid| 2015 has been a horror story for emerging markets and Asian shares have not escaped the fallout from the 40% plunge in Shanghai/Shenzhen since June. Yet financial markets discount the future while UAE investors invariably extrapolate the recent past. So even while I resurrect the ghosts of 1998 when Suharto’s regime fell amid anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta, South Korea was forced to accept a […]
Indonesia is drawing interest from Middle Eastern banks seeking to tap the world’s biggest pool of Shariah-compliant investors as some Islamic lenders wind down or close operations in Malaysia and Singapore. Emirates NBD PJSC wants to invest at least $300 million in a new Shariah lender or acquire a stake in an existing one, Dhani Gunawan Idat at Indonesia’s financial regulator said in a phone interview. That’s […]
UAE. Forbes Middle East has unveiled the names of its Most Powerful Arab Women for 2015 at a glittering awards ceremony that shone a light on some of the region’s most influential and accomplished leaders. The impressive event recognized the achievements of women in reaching the top of their fields in business and government and, in doing so, working towards a fairer and more equal working environment […]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Amazon (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos unveiled plans on Tuesday to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site in Florida to better compete with fellow billionaires using their fortunes and tech prowess to open a new frontier in human space travel and exploration. Bezos’ space startup, Blue Origin, intends to invest more than $200 million to build the rocket-making facility adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy […]
An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California May 28, 2014. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach/Files Ebay Inc released an upgrade to its mobile app for iOS and Android that provides more information to first-time sellers and includes a new dashboard for frequent sellers. Ebay has been trying to improve sales in its core marketplace business after spinning off PayPal Holdings Inc and selling its […]
|By Matein Khalid| Hong Kong now trades at 9.6 times earnings and 0.86 book value. Hang Seng valuations were gutted by the protest movements in Central and the Shanghai financial meltdown. The Hang Seng index is down 25% since late May and now trades at six times forward earnings, its post Lehman, post 2014 bottom. Hong Kong trades at its lowest price/book value since the Asian flu […]
INTERNATIONAL. OPEC next gathers December 4 in Vienna, just over a year since Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi announced at the previous OPEC winter meeting the Saudi decision to let the oil market determine oil prices rather than to continue Saudi Arabia’s role of guarantor of $100+/bbl oil. Despite the intense financial and economic pain this decision has inflicted on Saudi Arabia, its fellow OPEC members, and […]
UAE. H1 2015 saw 11 IPOs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, raising capital of over US$2.4b, according to EY’s MENA IPO Eye – H1 2015. Deal volume decreased by 31% and proceeds raised decreased by 1% in H1 2015, compared with H1 2014. Egypt and Saudi Arabia witnessed the highest number of IPOs with five and three IPOs respectively. Q2 2015 saw a significant […]
Delta Air Lines Inc has scrapped a number of its flights to Dubai this winter in an apparent nod to how competition with three Gulf carriers is hurting its business. Delta, the second-largest U.S. passenger carrier, will fly nonstop to Dubai from its Atlanta hub between four and five times per week starting Oct. 1, down from daily service this summer. The airline revised its schedule on […]
|By Matein Khalid| Every global recession since the OPEC oil shocks of 1973-74 was triggered by a contraction in the $17 trillion US economic colossus. The failure of Lehman Brothers, the meltdown in US subprime mortgages, the impotence of the implicit “Fed/Uncle Sam” put, the ice age in the commercial paper and interbank money markets all tipped the US economy into recession in late 2008 and triggered […]
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Has the “curse of the Dow” finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of $113.25 on Tuesday. […]
The developer Meydan has announced the launch of a new scheme known as Meydan One featuring a 711m-high tower, a huge new mall, the world’s largest indoor ski slope, a 25,000 sq metres indoor sports facility, the biggest dancing fountains in the world, a beach and a civic plaza capable of hosting up to 60,000 people. It is also to contain a 100-berth marina. And, a retractable […]
|TAP Special| UAE finance company Dunia may be for sale and Dubai’s Majid Al Futtaim Holding is believed to be among the suitors. According to Bloomberg, MAF Holding and KKR & Co. are among companies weighing a bid for the Abu Dhabi consumer finance firm. MAF already has a personal finance business, which offers the Najm credit cards and other products. There could be good synergy between […]
Gold fell, heading for its largest monthly decline in two years, as the Federal Reserve moved closer to boosting US interest rates for the first time since 2006. While Fed policy makers refrained from signaling the timing of a rate rise after a two-day meeting, they described job gains as solid amid an improving economy, according to a statement Wednesday. The market expects a move as early […]
An AT&T Logo is pictured on the side of a building in Pasadena, California, January 26, 2015. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni WASHINGTON The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier AT&T Inc (T.N) and the biggest satellite-TV provider DirecTV (DTV.O) became the country’s largest pay-TV company on Friday, completing their $48.5 billion merger after receiving final regulatory approval. The newly expanded AT&T leapfrogs the biggest U.S. cable company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O). […]
SINGAPORE, 3 days ago Chinese ultra wealthy individuals claimed nine of the 10 spots on a list of Asia’s richest millennials (definite as those born from 1981 to 1997), revealed Wealth-X, an authority on wealth intelligence, providing sales, marketing, strategy and compliance solutions to clients in the financial services, luxury, not-for-profit and education sectors. Three of the 10 spots on the list were occupied by female Asian […]
|By TAP Staff| The Saudi stock market, the largest market in the GCC with a total market capitalisation of approximately$550 billion, is drawing interest from a large number of potential foreign investors. The Saudi Stock Exchange opened to qualified foreign investors (QFI) for the first time one month ago. Increased participation from international financial institutions is primarily designed to help enhance the sophistication and stability of the […]
INTERNATIONAL. Global investors have raised their holdings of cash significantly in response to a weaker global economic outlook, particularly in China, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for July. Overall, equity allocations are unaffected by the higher risk aversion, however. • Confidence in the global economy falls sharply: 42percent of investors expect strengthening over next year, down from 55 percent a month ago.• China heads concerns: […]
|By Matein Khalid| Last week was a roller coaster and the Nikkei Dow closed at 19,800. Abenomics has had a seismic impact on Japan’s economy, financial markets and banking system. The yen has fallen from 76 on the eve of the election in 2012 to 122 against the US dollar. Corporate profits have exploded. Land price rises, job growth, bonuses, capex and consumer spending have lifted Japan […]
China’s biggest stock-market rout since 1992 has done nothing to erode the bullish outlook of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Kinger Lau, the bank’s China strategist in Hong Kong, predicts the large-cap CSI 300 Index will rally 27 percent over the next 12 months as government support measures boost investor confidence and monetary easing spurs economic growth. Leveraged positions aren’t big enough to trigger a market collapse, Lau […]
The United Church of Christ, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States, overwhelmingly approved a resolution Tuesday calling for divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation or control of Palestinian territories and to boycott products from Israeli settlements. Approval came at the church’s general synod in Cleveland, where delegates voted 508 to 124 in favor, with 38 abstentions. It was one of two […]
Two freshly delivered Amazon boxes are seen on a counter in Golden, Colorado August 27, 2014. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files CHICAGO Amazon.com Inc will launch its business loan program for small sellers later this year in eight more countries including China, where credit is becoming a key factor in competing for new vendors and grabbing market share. Until now, the e-retailer has offered the service only in the […]
The Apple logo is seen at the flagship Apple retail store in San Francisco, California April 27, 2015. Reuters/Robert Galbraith Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has removed several civil war games featuring Confederate flags from its App Store, some game developers said. The flags and other symbols of the Confederacy have been at the centre of debate since a 21-year-old gunman, accused of killing nine black worshippers in last […]
Visitors at the exhibit “A Brief History of Humankind” at the Israel Museum. The museum is Israel’s largest cultural institution, presiding over Jerusalem from a hilltop site alongside the Knesset and the Supreme Court. By ISABEL KERSHNER June 17, 2015 JERUSALEM — A softly lit case displays a small, gnarled implement that is said to be the world’s oldest known complete sickle, dating back 9,000 years. On a wall […]
