By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN The Syrian army and its allies pressed ahead on Friday with a two-week-long offensive to seize a strategic valley where a key spring provides supplies to four million people in the capital, Damascus, residents and rebels said. Aerial bombing and shelling from the army as well as Hezbollah fighters stationed in the mountains that overlook the valley on the northwestern edge […]
Thursday 15:20 GMT Overview A surge in the Chinese renminbi is contributing to selling of the US dollar, its retreat from 14-year highs rattling the broader market and boosting the price of gold. US and European equities are becalmed following a mixed Asian session, while Treasury yields dip from recent peaks despite what many analysts consider were a relatively hawkish set of minutes from the Federal Reserve. […]
OPEC’s oil output in December fell from a record high ahead of a deal to cut production, a Reuters survey found on Thursday, helped by attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry and top exporter Saudi Arabia trimming exports. The decline, the first since May according to Reuters surveys, occurred despite higher exports from second-largest OPEC producer Iraq and a further upward trend in Libyan output. Supply from OPEC […]
In one of the first signs that India’s crackdown on tax evaders is helping swell the government’s coffers, it this week lowered its borrowing plan by 4.2%. The government says it now plans to reduce the amount it borrows by 180 billion rupees ($2.64 billion). It had budgeted to borrow a net 4.25 trillion rupees in the current financial year. The Reserve Bank of India, which acts […]
SYDNEY The U.S. dollar crept nearer to 14-year peaks on Wednesday as an abundance of upbeat global economic data boosted Wall Street and signs of quickening inflation dented fixed-income debt. The strength of the U.S. currency pressured commodity prices and helped drag oil off an 18-month top, but gave Japan’s exporter-heavy stock market a fillip. The Nikkei climbed 2.1 percent, recovering from two sessions of losses as […]
After seven years of stock markets climbing ever upwards, investors found a new reason to buy in November: the shock election of Donald Trump. One oft-repeated anecdote is how the billionaire investor Carl Icahn left Mr Trump’s victory party to buy US stocks. A few days later Stanley Druckenmiller, who earlier in the year told a conference for fellow hedge fund managers to “get out of the […]
Disappointment again… Early exuberance in stocks – as overnight gains suggested panic buying at the US open, faded rapidly as financials and tech faded and crude plunged (despite better than expected data)… then after NYMEX closed VIX was smashed lower and stocks lifted… S&P was best on the day, Trannies were red (thanks to Ford news impacting rails)… NOTE – stocks ripped at the open, […]
The government of Oman has approached banks for an international bond issue with tranches of five and 10 years as the country plugs a budget deficit caused by lower oil prices, banking sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The sultanate has asked international lenders to submit proposals for a U.S. dollar debt transaction likely to be around $1 billion or more. Banks are expected to […]
Tapping into the potential of Islamic Economy for the East Africa Market: Kenya will host the 2nd edition of the East Africa Islamic Economy Summit (EAIES 2017) East Africa’s Islamic Economy Summit – Nairobi 2017 Tapping into the potential of Islamic Economy for the East Africa Market: Kenya will host the 2nd edition of the East Africa Islamic Economy Summit (EAIES 2017) LONDON, United Kingdom, January […]
Despite the weakness in ‘hard’ industrial production data, US Manufacturing ‘soft’ survey data from ISM and Markit surged in November and December. PMI rose to 54.3 final for December – a 21-month high – with employment rising and inventory-building. However, stagflation concerns continue to build as new orders declined and input price inflation accelerated. ISM rose to its highest since Dec 2014 with prices paid soaring to […]
By David Morgan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Big Oil could be in a unique position to protect its interests against a Republican proposal to tax imports, given that President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet is studded with oil champions sensitive to the risk of higher gasoline prices. Trump’s emerging leadership includes Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, former Texas Governor Rick Perry as energy […]
LONDON Upbeat data from China helped lift global markets as 2017 trading started in earnest on Tuesday, with the dollar notching its biggest gain in three weeks, oil on a tear and European stocks setting a one-year high. Base metal prices and bond yields also advanced, as the better-than-expected factory growth in China dovetailed with higher inflation data in Europe to give investors a solid start to […]
Tesla is probably bracing itself for a deluge of last-minute customers after it announced that those who will purchase the company’s vehicles after Jan. 15 are no longer going to enjoy unlimited free access to its charging facilities. The new policy, when it was announced in November, states a Jan. 1 deadline. There is no reason given so far, but the two-week reprieve has given some consumers who […]
SEOUL Oil prices rose in the first trading hours of 2017, buoyed by hopes that a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will be effective in draining the global supply glut. International Brent crude oil prices LCOc1 were trading up 31 cents, or 0.55 percent, at $57.13 a barrel at 0203 GMT on Tuesday – close to last year’s […]
Venezuela has issued $5bn in new bonds to state-run Banco de Venezuela in a private placement, as it seeks cash for imports of food and medicine as the country struggles with critical shortages of basic goods. France-based Global Emerging Markets Group said it advised on structuring and executing the deal. The operation was underwritten by China’s Haitong Securities, according to two bond traders who had seen preliminary […]
Doha, 02 January 2017 The global publishing, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) has appointed a new team to oversee its latest project in Qatar. Izabela Kruk takes on the role of country director, while Simon Gaillard will be the Group’s editorial manager for The Report: Qatar 2017. Kruk moves into her new post from Nigeria, where she contributed to the Group’s most recent report […]
LONDON Euro zone stocks opened 2017 by climbing to their highest in more than a year on Monday after data showed manufacturers in the currency bloc ramped up activity at the fastest pace in more than five years. With all of Asia’s major markets closed for the New Year holiday – along with Britain and Switzerland in Europe – trade was thin, which could cause some volatility. […]
Airbusand Boeingare bracing themselves for a challenging 2017 after struggling to reach sales targets in the past year. Later this month the two companies will reveal the final tally for last year’s orders and deliveries, but both look set to fall short of their goal of achieving a book to bill of about one — essentially replacing almost every aircraft delivery with a new order. This would […]
The first wedding season of the new year is under way, running from now until March. The bridal gowns, floral decorations and catering for impending winter weddings will be influenced by the flora and fauna of the season. The same will be true of 2017’s second major wedding period, between July and the end of September. Last month in Dubai, concierge company Quintessentially launched a one-stop-shop wedding […]
Welcome to a new year and the pressing market issues facing investors as they look to put money to work and navigate 2017. Geopolitical surprises upended expectations last year and few predicted that 2016 would end with a global bull market in equities, while bond yields remain relatively low. Will strategists be any better at forecasting this time around? Here are the big questions that will preoccupy […]
By Sankalp Phartiyal | MUMBAI MUMBAI Smartphone component maker Wistron Corp, which counts Apple Inc among its customers, has applied for permission to expand its plant in the Indian city of Bengaluru, a high-ranking regional government official said on Monday. The Taiwanese contract manufacturer has also requested that its application be fast-tracked, the official at the state government of Karnataka in southern India told Reuters. The move […]
Can you still call something a “food craze” if it has been around since the Stone Age? Bone broth, which is all the rage in Hollywood and is catching on in the UAE, is essentially the same homemade soup your grandma – and generations before her – might have made from marrow bones, with assorted vegetables and herbs, although this latest variation simmers on the hob for […]
Dubai, UAE, 29 December 2016 Azizi Developments – a leading UAE-based real estate developer with global reach into international markets – met with the Dubai Land Department today, following their recent announcement of 50 new projects for the coming year. The developer discussed Dubai’s economic situation, the current market conditions and predictions for the upcoming year as well as regulatory changes. The Chairman of Dubai Land Department, […]
A 2017 state budget plan released by Oman’s government on Sunday projected a smaller deficit but maintained tight curbs on spending because of low oil prices, which are hurting state revenues. Government spending this year is projected to total 11.7 billion rials ($30.4 billion) and revenues 8.7 billion rials, which would result in a deficit of 3 billion rials. That compares with the government’s original 2016 budget […]
