During the past two years, statistics show that Dubai’s economy is on the path to a robust recovery. Some say that a new boom is unfolding, but not everyone agrees as not all economic sectors are witnessing dramatic improvements. In general, UAE is enjoying political stability and a strong revival in the tourism sector. Real estate prices and residential rents are firmly advancing too. However, along that, […]
|By Upendra Prasad| When Congress leaders had forced unwilling Kejriwal to form his government in Delhi, he said the Congress will have to repent its decision to allow him to become CM. It is clear now what he meant by saying it. In an unprecedented move, he has ordered institution of a case against present and former Petroleum Ministers as also Mukesh Ambani to manipulate and hike […]
India, the world’s biggest sugar producer after Brazil, will introduce a subsidy on raw sweetener exports to boost shipments amid a domestic glut, a government official said. The cabinet approved a 3,333 rupees ($54) a metric ton subsidy for exports in February and March and will review the amount in April, the official, who asked not to be named because the person isn’t authorized to speak to […]
Gold retreated from the highest level since November as a five-day advance damped physical demand and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen pledged to continue with a gradual tapering of stimulus. Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.6 percent to $1,284.15 an ounce, and was at $1,286.78 at 3:12 p.m. in Singapore. Prices climbed to $1,293.93 yesterday, the highest level since Nov. 14, capping a […]
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a one-year extension of federal borrowing authority on Tuesday after Republicans caved into President Barack Obama’s demands to allow a debt limit increase without any conditions. The 221-201 vote, carried mainly by Democrats, marked a dramatic shift from the confrontational fiscal tactics House Republicans have used over the past three years, culminating in last October’s 16-day government shutdown. It came […]
Aldar Properties will look to refinance 7.9 billion dirhams ($2.2 billion) worth of debt this year, and is open to bank loans as well as bonds, the chief financial officer of the Abu Dhabi property firm said on Wednesday. “You could see us (doing) normal refinancing – banks or bonds – because of our strong credit ratings. We will also manage debts with government receivables, existing cash […]
Janet Yellen, fresh from taking the helm of the Federal Reserve, made it clear on Tuesday she would not make any abrupt changes to U.S. monetary policy, saying the central bank was on track to keep reducing its stimulus even though the labor market recovery was far from complete. In her first public comments since becoming Fed chief earlier this month, Yellen said the central bank must […]
The Bitcoin Foundation said the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange in Tokyo is to blame for technical faults that prevented customer withdrawals of the virtual currency that lost as much as 21 percent of its value today. “The issues that Mt. Gox has been experiencing are due to an unfortunate interaction between Mt. Gox’s implementation of their highly customized wallet software, their customer support procedures and their unpreparedness,” […]
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday he has asked for legal cases to be filed against Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and policymakers over pricing of gas produced from the D6 block in the east coast. “Today we have instructed the anti-corruption branch to file a criminal case against Murli Deora, FIRs against Veerappa Moily, V.K. Sibal, the (then) director general of hydrocarbons, Reliance Industries […]
Dubai house prices are only 15 percent short of their 2008 peak and will return to those pre-crisis highs within 18 months, consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said on Monday. The emirate outpaced all major property markets last year, with prices climbing more than 22 percent as billions of dollars of government real estate projects triggered a buying binge among investors. The fast growth, however, has raised […]
Gold rose to a two-week high, set for the longest rally since October, as U.S. jobs data missed estimates and Chinese buyers returned after the Lunar New Year break. Silver headed for the longest winning run since August. Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.7 percent to $1,276.03 an ounce, the highest level since Jan. 27 and surpassing its 100-day moving average of $1,267.43, before […]
Smarting from growing losses, Taiwanese phone maker HTC Corp says it will expand its range of cheaper products as it fixes off-target marketing for its premium smartphones. The company that has long prided itself as a purveyor of upscale, feature-loaded products says it needs to sell more mid-tier and affordable smartphones after losing out in 2013. Muscled off-track by fast-growing Chinese rivals like Xiaomi Inc as well […]
Emerging Asia will become the world’s primary weak spot in 2014, but we have reached the beginning of the end of this crisis, according to Saxo Bank’s investment outlook for the first quarter of 2014 Global overview Having maintained world growth at acceptable levels throughout the current crisis, emerging Asia will become the world’s primary weak spot in 2014. Investment in that region has reached a staggering […]
Most Asian markets made guarded gains on Monday, encouraged that Wall Street was able to weather a seemingly disappointing U.S. jobs report, though there was more than enough event risk ahead to keep investors cautious. Crucially, the new head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, delivers her first testimony to the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday, and markets will be hoping for reassurance that […]
San Franciscans have long blamed the technology sector for rising rents. Now, a study from real-estate company Trulia backs them up. Rents are rising faster in U.S. tech hubs than in the rest of the country, Trulia said in a report released Thursday. In January, it said, rents rose 3.3 percent in the nation’s 100 biggest metropolitan areas in January, but they rose by an average of […]
Dubai’s largest real estate developer Emaar Properties regained an investment-grade credit rating on Wednesday, marking the emirate’s strong recovery from its financial crisis five years ago. Standard and Poor’s raised its long-term rating of Emaar to BBB-minus, the lowest investment grade, from BB-plus. In 2009, S&P had cut the state-linked firm to junk status as the global credit crunch and a crash of Dubai’s property market ravaged […]
Pumping his fist into the Paris air, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal, celebrated the award of the 2020 World Expo to Dubai. A Dubai counterpart returned the favor three weeks later, hailing Abu Dhabi’s role in securing the event. The backslapping late last year signaled the ever-closer relationship between the sheikhdoms at the core of the seven-member United Arab Emirates, one a […]
For global automakers, the dusty backroads of rural India could be the new El Dorado. As economic torpor suffocates demand for new cars in India’s megacities, incomes are growing faster in small towns and country areas. That’s pushing the likes of General Motors and Honda Motor Co to fan out in search of buyers in places where fewer than 20 people in every thousand own a car […]
Commodities moved lower during the course of the week as the diverging outlook between emerging and developed economies continued to raise uncertainty about the demand outlook for commodities. The weakness was primarily driven by losses in both metal sectors with industrial metals being hurt by weak China manufacturing data together with a slowdown in activity ahead of the Lunar New Year shutdown in several Asian markets. Precious […]
Dubai Financial Market (DFM) , the emirate’s main stock exchange, has issued rules allowing the lending and borrowing of securities, part of efforts to make the market more flexible ahead of an influx of foreign funds. Lending and borrowing of securities is expected to begin in the first quarter of this year, if investors are ready, DFM said in a statement seen on Friday. Securities lending and […]
When planners designed the Business Bay district in Dubai at the height of the last real-estate boom, they boasted it would become the largest business and office district in the Middle East. Yet a visit to the site today suggests there is a lot more living than working taking place, with nannies pushing carriages and children romping around a playground. Throughout Dubai, developers are restarting projects that […]
A unit of Dubai Holding, owned by the emirate’s ruler, has sold a piece of land to fast-growing shopping mall developer Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), the latest in a series of plot sales initiated by state-linked firms in the emirate to raise funds. The unit, TECOM Investments, sold 1 million square feet of land at its International Media Production Zone (IMPZ), a development that spreads across 43 […]
Asian markets rallied on Wednesday after Turkey stunned investors with a huge hike in interest rates, stirring hopes drastic action would short-circuit a vicious cycle of selling in emerging markets and revive risk appetite. European shares were expected to ride the wave of optimism, with financial spreadbetters predicting Britain’s FTSE 100 to open 43-48 points higher, or up by as much as 0.7 percent; Germany’s DAX was […]
Gold’s biggest slump in three decades has been a boon for MKS (Switzerland) SA’s PAMP refinery near the Italian border in Castel San Pietro, whose bullion sales to China surged to a record as demand rose for coins, bars and jewelry. As prices plunged 28 percent in 2013, investors dumped a record 869.1 metric tons from gold-backed funds traded mostly in the U.S. and Europe. Much of […]
