La Villette, a corrugated iron convention hall on the northern rim of Paris, was meant to be François Fillon’s launch pad towards the French presidency after winning the centre-right nomination in a landslide. But on Sunday he stood in the packed venue, days after claims emerged that the Republican candidate had allegedly employed his wife in a fake parliamentary job for years and, suddenly, victory seemed to […]
Currency traders are in a bind. Has the dollar rally run out of steam and is it ripe for a big sell-off, or has bullish momentum paused ahead of another leg higher? Here are the pros and cons for the currency as we approach several key events in February. What’s bugging the dollar? Investors’ second thoughts. Dollar trading in recent months can be split into three phases. […]
The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at 0.25%, gilt purchase program at GBP435BN, and corporate-bond plan at GBP10b, voting 9-0 on all 3 decisions. The BOE also raises growth forecasts, while keeping its inflation forecasts broadly unchanged, and said the current policy stance “depended on the trade-off between above-target inflation and slack in the economy.” The central banks also reiterated that “monetary policy could […]
ULAANBAATAR/HONG KONG Private citizens in Mongolia are donating cash, jewelry, gold and even horses to help the government make a near $600 million payment to bondholders next month. The cash-strapped nation has been embroiled in an economic crisis brought about by a collapse in foreign investment, slowing growth in China and weak commodity prices. Its currency, the tugrik, lost nearly a quarter of its value last year. […]
Chocolate industry executives breathed a collective sigh of relief earlier this year after the impact of the bankruptcy of a key cocoa industry player at the end of 2016 remained muted as a result of a weak cocoa market. Expectations of bumper supplies from west Africa, the leading regional producer of cocoa beans, have been weighing on bean prices of the key chocolate ingredient. This has helped […]
Almost a decade on from the financial crisis, a global deadline for reform of the $544tn derivatives market has triggered a last-minute scramble by hundreds of small banks, insurers and pension funds. Many of these institutions use bespoke derivatives such as swaps to protect their operations from sudden changes in asset prices. In a month’s time they face higher costs and regulatory burdens. Plenty are not ready. […]
The banking caucus Economic stability and improved bank safety haven’t stopped supporters of the Choice Act from moving forward with tearing down Dodd-Frank. The bill was introduced in September by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who is a deregulation crusader and friend of Vice President Mike Pence; Pence represented Indiana in the House from 2001 to 2013 and was a critic of Dodd-Frank when the law […]
TOKYO Asian shares inched up to four-month highs while the dollar was finding its feet on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve stuck to its mildly upbeat economic view but gave no hint of accelerating rate hikes. While strong economic data from the United States and elsewhere have underpinned risk assets, uncertainty and concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies have markets on edge. “With many of […]
February 2, 2017 by: Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong Thursday 02.00 GMT Overview Stock markets were mixed in Asia after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but hinted at further rises this year. The Australian dollar gained against its US counterpart on data showing a record trade surplus, while oil pared back some of Wednesday’s gains. Hot topic The Australian dollar gained 0.6 per cent […]
A law clerk from Toronto and a paralegal in Montreal commanded a prolific corporate empire of nearly 200 companies over the past 25 years — while knowing nothing about the businesses or the multimillion-dollar deals bearing their names, they say. Karen McIntyre of Toronto and Annette Laroche of the Montreal area both say they filed company tax returns without any idea if the numbers were accurate, signed […]
By Shihar Aneez | HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka China signed a deal with Sri Lanka late last year to further develop the strategic port of Hambantota and build a huge industrial zone nearby, a key part of Beijing’s ambitions to create a modern-day “Silk Road” across Asia. The agreement was welcome relief for the island nation of 20 million people. As they try to reduce […]
According to a transcript obtained by AP of the phone call which took place on Friday morning between President Trump and his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto, and which was intended to patch things up between the new president and his Mexican peer a day after Pena Nieto called off his visit to the US, Trump threatened to send U.S. troops to stop “bad hombres down there” […]
Blackstone-backed Invitation Homes began trading on Wednesday above its $20 a share initial public offering, as investors latched on to positive signals in the property rental market. The Dallas-based real estate investment trust, which allows investors to buy and sell shares in a company that owns single-family rental properties, raised $1.54bn from its IPO on Tuesday, the largest public offering since mid-2015, according to Bloomberg data. However, […]
By Lindsay Dunsmuir and Jason Lange | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in its first meeting since President Donald Trump took office, but painted a relatively upbeat picture of the U.S. economy that suggested it was on track to tighten monetary policy this year. The central bank said job gains remained solid, inflation had increased and economic confidence was rising, although […]
Announcement comes on the sidelines of participation at Arab Health Exhibition & Congress 2017 in Dubai UAE, February 1, 2017 The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention has announced the launch of direct medical appointments booking through its Smart Patient Portal during its participation at Arab Health Exhibition and Congress 2017 which will run until February 2, 2017 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The move is […]
The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade totalled AED1.172 trillion ($320 billion) for the first nine months of 2016, up by 0.1 percent on the same period in the previous year. Preliminary data of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) indicated that the share of imports in the UAE’s total non-oil trade amounted to AED721.2 billion, a rise of 1 percent. Native gold and semi-processed gold topped the list of […]
The oil industry is zeroing in on a prospective tax shift in Washington that has the potential to upend energy flows around the world. The “border adjustment tax” (BAT) put forth by Republican lawmakers and embraced sporadically by President Donald Trump would radically change the way companies are levied, taxing imports and exempting exports in the world’s biggest economy. While the Trump administration’s stance on BAT has […]
Dubai Municipality plans to impose tougher controls on people conducting illegal trade through social media channels. The controls include stiff fines and blocking of ‘business’ websites, it said on Monday. Redha Hassan Salman, director of the health and safety department at Dubai Municipality, said in a statement to media: “We are looking for different means to implement penalties on those people who practice illegal online trade. “We […]
By Sinead Carew and Jamie McGeever | NEW YORK/LONDON NEW YORK/LONDON U.S. President Donald Trump and a top economics adviser on Tuesday unleashed a barrage of criticism against Germany, Japan and China, saying the three key U.S. trading partners were engaged in devaluing their currencies to the harm of American companies and consumers. The comments from Trump at the end of a White House meeting with pharmaceutical […]
For the London Metal Exchange, the traditional winter holiday lull in activity which affects most other financial markets comes almost a month later. Traders say that the influence of China in copper, aluminium and nickel markets, means their operations almost grind to a halt during the Chinese new year. The slowdown was clearly visible on Monday, with turnover in benchmark three-month copper futures falling to less than […]
31 January 2017 Swedish company Qmatic, a global leader in technology solutions and insights for a seamless and personal patient journey, is announcing today that it will participate in the largest healthcare trade show in the Middle East and North Africa – Arab Health 2017, held in Dubai. The show, with over 4 400 exhibitors from over 70 countries, is expected to draw 115 000 visitors. Thirty-eight […]
Capital Group, one of the world’s biggest investment groups and a cornerstone backer of upstart stock exchange IEX, wants the incoming Trump administration to stymie high-frequency traders by overhauling one of the US equity market’s biggest but controversial regulatory planks. Matt Lyons, global head of trading at $1.4tn Capital Group, was a big supporter of the anti-HFT exchange made famous by Michael Lewis’s book Flash Boys, making […]
Those dollar bulls blinkered by the so-called Trumpflation trade and wondering if a pullback is justified get a reminder this week of the other main force behind the long-dollar consensus. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues are staging their first meeting of the year. A Fed meeting, particularly one taking place at some point along the path of a rates cycle, would normally command considerable […]
The US stock market suffered its largest decline this year, alongside investors snapping up protection against a possible rise in volatility, pointing towards the nervousness over the recent rally. The S&P 500 dipped 0.6 per cent to 2,281, its biggest one-day fall since December 28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 per cent to 19,971, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.8 per cent to 5,614. […]
