Dubai is considering listing some of its largest and most valuable state-controlled companies such as the Emirates airline in a move that could raise billions of pounds in revenue. Mohammed al-Shaibani, Dubai’s finance chief, revealed that some of the state-owned companies could also be partially floated on the London Stock Exchange and signalled that the emirate views the UK as a strategic location for future investment. “We […]
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress called for immediate sanctions against Russia and an emergency aid package for Ukraine as the crisis in eastern Europe escalated Saturday. The day after President Obama said Russia would face “costs” for intervening in Ukraine, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the president needs to articulate what those costs are — and immediately impose them. “None of us should be under any illusion […]
The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say. Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behavior and should be […]
|TAP Special| Dubai should reorient its economic focus by shifting away from property and concentrate on advanced industries, a report by the Department of Finance proposed. Within the real estate sector itself, the emphasis should be changed from residential to commercial, it further said. The paper says Dubai has learned lessons from the global financial crisis, including the importance of budget discipline and the need to regulate […]
The ruling Congress party, which surveys suggest will be ousted from power in elections due by May, called on Wednesday for opinion polls to be banned during the campaign after a TV news report alleged survey data was routinely manipulated. The News Express channel said a “sting operation” using hidden cameras had exposed malpractices by a clutch of polling agencies that included fudging numbers at the behest […]
The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange plans to list four currency futures contracts this year to help investors hedge their financial risk in China, Russia, South Korea and South Africa. These will include renminbi, ruble, won and rand futures in the next three to six months, Gary Anderson, chief executive officer of the exchange, said in an interview to Bloomberg. The DGCX already offers contracts in gold, […]
India has decided to block investigations by the United States into its trade policies and patent laws and prepare for a battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could escalate already-strained tension between the two countries. New Delhi is furious about a threat of trade sanctions made by the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office over its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), preference for […]
Mt. Gox, once the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, abruptly stopped trading on Tuesday and its chief executive said the business was at “a turning point” but gave no details. Several other digital currency exchanges, including Bitstamp and BTC-E, issued statements attempting to reassure investors of both bitcoin’s viability and their own security protocols. The website of Mt. Gox suddenly went dark on Tuesday with no explanation, and […]
JPMorgan Chase & Co. says investors should buy record-low yielding sukuk from Dubai-based port operator DP World Ltd. (DPW) and Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority FZE before credit ratings improve. The yield on DP World’s $1.5 billion Islamic bonds due July 2017 slid 61 basis points this year to 2.6 percent at 2:22 p.m. in Dubai, the lowest level since they were sold in 2007. The yield […]
Concerns from Indian carriers on the quantum of increase in bilateral seat entitlements requested by Dubai may result in the emirate getting only half of its initial request of enhancing weekly entitlements by 20,000 seats. the Economic Times reported. A top official of the civil aviation ministry told ET that officials of various ministries met as part of an Inter Ministerial Group on Monday where a “couple” […]
|By Pranay Gupta| When I look out of the windows of my 25th-floor apartment in Dubai, I see the Persian Gulf shimmering a few blocks away. Cruise ships are parked at the dockyard, and in the blue waters beyond a steady stream of oil-laden tankers head out to quench the world’s thirst for black gold. Closer to me are other skyscrapers, vast shopping centers, and crowded convention […]
Indian central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan warned that inflation remained the biggest threat to growth, diverging from the nation’s finance chief, who highlighted diminishing price pressures. A developing economy like India that is seeking higher growth rates can tolerate higher inflation than advanced nations, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in an interview in Sydney, where he was attending the Group of 20 meetings with Rajan. Chidambaram, who […]
BuzzFeed has come a long way from cat lists. This month one of its journalists was on the ground in Kiev reporting on the crisis in Ukraine, and last December it published an in-depth article on a Chinese dissident living in Harlem, New York. The kittens haven’t disappeared, but these days there is serious journalism as well. When Facebook Inc tweaked its News Feed filters in December […]
|By Kalyani Shankar| With the arrival of the AAP party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the national scene, after he quit his post as Delhi chief minister, the ensuing Lok Sabha elections seem to be interesting with one more player added to the confusing poll scene. The AAP is planning to contest more than 350 of the 542 seats. Don’t think Kejrwal is acting impulsively. He has taken […]
|By Ole Hansen| Commodities showing strong gains for a third week with positive performances seen across all sectors, not least agriculture where coffee and sugar were strong performers followed by precious metals. Growth-dependent commodities such as energy and industrial metals also showed a positive return but were held back by another decline to a seven-month low in Chinese manufacturing confidence. Adverse weather across the Americas continues to […]
A sprawling forested estate of graceful waterways and summer houses – half the size of Monaco but just one hour’s drive from Kiev – stands as a symbol of the folly of Ukraine’s fugitive president. Even the most cynical Ukrainians, who on Saturday streamed to see Viktor Yanukovich’s luxury estate, rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they were confronted by the scale of the opulence he built […]
It is only a matter of time before the stock market plunges by 50% or more, according to several reputable experts. “We have no right to be surprised by a severe and imminent stock market crash,” explains Mark Spitznagel, a hedge fund manager who is notorious for his hugely profitable billion-dollar bet on the 2008 crisis. “In fact, we must absolutely expect it.” Unfortunately Spitznagel isn’t alone. […]
The two most-accurate gold forecasters are holding to their bearish forecasts for 2014 even after the metal posted its best start to a year since 1983. Futures rose 9.7 percent in 2014 through Feb. 14, rebounding from the biggest annual drop in three decades, and reached a three-month high. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by bullion increased by 3.2 metric tons last week, the most since December […]
|By Steen Jakobsen|The negative start to this year came as a surprise to most investors as we came into the new year with the usual euphoria and expectations of a stock market ending 2014 up 10-15% and a Europe and US in continued recovery but January soon became all about a potential EM crisis which ended up hurting even developed markets return in this year first month. […]
The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), the legal arm of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), is encouraging people to register complaints against real estate agencies making cold calls. Complaints have been received against three companies engaged in making unsolicited calls to potential clients and property owners. “A new regulatory article has been introduced by us that covers telemarketing. “We encourage anyone who has a complaint in this […]
West Texas Intermediate crude rose for the first time in three days as an improved U.S. economy bolstered the demand outlook in the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures climbed as much as 0.7 percent in New York, extending a fifth weekly gain. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer confidence held at 81.2 this month, topping the median estimate of 80.2 in a Bloomberg News […]
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways, asking whether the Abu Dhabi-based carrier violated takeover rules in acquiring a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. SEBI issued the notice to Etihad on Wednesday and asked for a response on why it should not make a tender offer to Jet […]
Kickstarter, the fundraising platform used by millions of people to raise capital for creative projects and businesses, said on Saturday that hackers had gained access to some of its customers’ data earlier this week but that the breach had been repaired. “No credit card data of any kind was accessed by hackers. There is no evidence of unauthorized activity of any kind on all but two Kickstarter […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building up a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States. Merkel, speaking on Saturday ahead of a visit to France, has been pushing for greater data protection in Europe following reports last year about mass surveillance in Germany and elsewhere by the U.S. National […]
