Jitters over a possible U.S.-led military strike against the Syrian government knocked Asian equities to a seven-week low on Wednesday and pushed oil prices and safe-haven gold to multi-month highs. An acute ‘risk-off’ mode also boosted the appeal of the Japanese yen, which held near a one-week high against the dollar and euro after having posted its biggest rally in more than two months. Washington and its […]
The United States and its allies geared up for a probable military strike against Syria that could come within days and would be the most aggressive action by Western powers in the Middle Eastern nation’s two-and-a-half-year civil war. Western envoys have told the Syrian opposition to expect a military response soon against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces as punishment for a chemical weapons attack last week, according to […]
The heightened economic activity in Dubai has undoubtedly been supported by the recovery of the emirate’s real estate sector, with capital values in some residential submarkets quickly closing in on their Q3 2008 pre-crisis peaks, Cluttons said in its latest market analysis. During Q2 alone, villa values rose by an average of 21%, compared to 24.4% last year. Apartments on the other hand recorded capital value increases […]
Investors are favoring U.S. stocks over emerging markets by the most ever as fund flows and volatility measures show institutions are increasingly seeking the relative safety of American equities. Almost $95 billion was poured into exchange-traded funds of American shares this year, while developing-nation ETFs saw withdrawals of $8.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) trades at 16 times […]
Iran is raising its exports of iron ore and iron products to China and India in an attempt to replace at least a small part of the massive revenue that has been lost due to sanctions on its oil sales. While Iran’s oil exports have halved in the last few years due to western sanctions over the country’s disputed nuclear program, iron ore exports have grown by […]
The Arabian Post Special As India’s currency plummeted against the U.S. dollar, Gulf-based Indians are avoiding gold purchases or selling their gold to raise cash for property bargains back home. “Since early 2013 when the Rupee started tumbling, we have been receiving ample demand from Indian residents for property loans,” said Shabbir Gunerwala, a loan officer working for Indian bank ICICI in Dubai. Santosh Tandel, the regional […]
A long-awaited opening of Saudi Arabia’s stock market to direct foreign investment appears near, industry executives and fund managers say – a reform that could give equity investment in the Gulf its biggest boost for years. Hopes have been raised and dashed several times over the last few years. While the Saudi government has long considered the reform and has been making technical preparations, it has never […]
By Steen Jakobsen, Saxo Bank Commenting on Egypt is not something I take lightly, particularly when the death toll there continues to rise. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a difficult region to comment on in general. You cannot apply the usual economic models when doing your research, but have to make a careful assessment of evidence on the ground and by observing the evolution […]
Gold fell for a second session on Thursday after minutes from a Federal Reserve policy meeting failed to ease fears the U.S. central bank would begin tapering its economic stimulus from next month. The minutes of the Fed’s July 30-31 meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that a few officials thought last month it would soon be time to slow the pace of their bond buying “somewhat” but […]
A mechanism to standardize medicine prices in member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is expected to be put in place by November ahead of a meeting of Gulf Health Ministers early next year to endorse the price list. The entire scheme is aimed at reducing and maintaining uniform prices of medicines and profit margins. Dr. Fahad Al-Dosari, head of medicinal pricing at the executive office […]
NEW DELHI—As India’s economy shifted into low gear earlier this year, sales at the country’s largest car manufacturer also lost steam, falling nearly 7% in the second quarter from a year earlier. Now the auto maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., faces trouble on a new front: the rapid drop in the Indian currency. The rupee has slumped nearly 3% against the dollar since last Wednesday and roughly […]
Union Properties (UPP) chairman said the Dubai real-estate company isn’t a takeover target after trading volumes crossed 100 million shares for a third day. Almost 106 million shares traded, or 2.7 times the three-month daily average and comprising about 20 percent of the total volume on Dubai’s stock market. The shares fell 0.4 percent to 45.8 fils at the close in the emirate, after surging 11 percent […]
India’s biggest stock-market swings in 16 months are poised to continue, boosting options prices as the prospect of reduced Federal Reserve stimulus spurs further weakness in the rupee, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The CNX Nifty index has retreated 10 percent during the past month and the gauge’s 30-day historical volatility reached 21.1 yesterday, the highest level since April 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. […]
(Reuters) – Shares of Dubai property developer Union Properties, in which lender Emirates NBD holds a major stake, surged 11 percent in massive trading volume on Sunday – a fresh sign of growing optimism toward the emirate’s real estate. The stock, which closed at 0.46 dirham per share, saw 423.7 million shares change hands on the Dubai equities market, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the market’s entire […]
A.P. Moeller-Maersk, owner of the world’s biggest shipping line, said concern that emerging markets are losing their growth momentum is overdone. “The underlying story is very good,” Maersk Chief Executive Officer Nils Smedegaard Andersen said in an interview on Aug. 16. “Our expectation remains that the U.S. will be the key driver of growth, but we’re also relatively optimistic on emerging markets. There is growth potential, even […]
After inching up 0.15 percent last week, the U.S. Comex gold futures jumped 3.72 percent this week and ended at $1,361.10 on Thursday. During Asia Friday morning, the gold futures traded as high as $1,372. The Dollar Index retreated 0.72 percent in the past two days and was flat week-to-Thursday. The S&P 500 Index and the Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell 1.94 percent and 0.20 percent respectively […]
A small number of well-established insurers are reaping the benefits of the fast-growing insurance markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said in a review. Meanwhile, inflated valuations and a reluctance to relinquish control are preventing smaller insurers from consolidating. In trying to avoid reporting losses, we believe revenue-starved insurers could distort market pricing for all. Insurance in the GCC region continues […]
By Parag Deulgaonkar Emirates 24/7 A post on a social networking site by an ‘unknown’ developer launching a new project in Downtown Dubai has led to over 40 real estate brokerage firms scrambling to get details. And that’s not just it. A few brokers claim in their response to the post that they even have investors ready to buy the project off plan. Though the developer name is […]
Gold may extend a rally from a two-month high as an increase in demand from jewelry buyers in China and India helps counter a drop in assets under exchange-traded funds backed by bullion. Prices may rally to as much as $1,550 an ounce by the end of the year, said Jeffrey Rhodes, managing director of the financial institutions division of the Kaloti Jewellery Group, a Dubai-based gold […]
Gold rose to the highest in almost two months and silver capped the biggest weekly rally since 2008 on signs of higher physical demand for precious metals. Global bar and coin purchases reached a record last quarter and jewelry usage rose to the most since 2008, World Gold Council figures showed this week. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect the metal to rise next week, four were […]
AMMAN — Representatives of IT companies in Jordan said they will be forced to move their headquarters out of the Kingdom if a proposed income tax law is endorsed. They said the increase in electricity prices this week and the government’s intention to increase IT companies’ income tax from 14 per cent to 25 per cent will be “disastrous”, making Jordan no longer an ICT hub. “The […]
Gold traders are the most bullish in five months on signs that demand for coins and jewelry increased during a plunge in prices that prompted billionaire investor John Paulson to cut his holding for the first time since 2011. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, four were bearish and five neutral, the highest proportion of bulls since March 8. Consumer buying of […]
High oil prices and poor returns on safe assets have pushed the GCC’s huge sovereign wealth funds into riskier investments in recent years, a report from Moody’s Investors Service says. Moody’s doesn’t attempt to quantify the shift, but even minor changes in strategy by Gulf funds are carefully watched given their hefty sway in global financial markets. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which Moody’s estimates to hold […]
The commodities sector looks set for a relatively benign near-term future according to Saxo Bank, the multi-asset trading and investment specialist. Gold and silver should see a mild recovery over the next quarter and oil looks set to remain at current levels, struggling to push past previous highs. Any expectation that WTI crude will re-establish its historical premium over Brent looks improbable. Saxo Bank believes that changing […]
