Gold held steady on Thursday as global equities remained volatile amid lower risk appetite and concerns over economic growth, and as investors waited for cues from U.S. jobs data. A mixed bag of U.S. data added to pressure from the emerging markets turmoil on equity markets, underpinning safe-haven assets such as gold and the yen. “Even when stocks have rallied over the past few trading sessions, we […]
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 […]
Investment bankers in Europe are off to the leanest start to a year in a decade as dwindling income from deal-making and trading presses firms to reduce costs. Revenue from arranging mergers, loans and stock and bond offerings for clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 22 percent to $1.58 billion last month from the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by New York-based research […]
Asian shares skidded on Tuesday while the dollar struggled to keep its footing, after disappointing data cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. economy and gave investors little reason to hope for stability in emerging markets after their recent rout. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell about 1.4 percent, touching its lowest level since early September at one point. The gloom was likely […]
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 […]
Hotels in Dubai reported the highest profit levels in the region in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, according to the latest HotStats survey by TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East. During December, Dubai continued to record strong performance levels, reflecting the growth experienced throughout the year, the survey said. These latest figures follow a recent pronouncement by the head of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing […]
Dubai-based construction firm Arabtec said it would build 37 major buildings worth 22.44 billion dirhams ($6.1 billion) for Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in a fresh sign of the dramatic recovery of local estate markets. Confirming a Reuters story on Saturday, Arabtec said the deal was one of the largest ever in the region’s real estate sector and Arabtec’s biggest by value. […]
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 […]
The Federal Reserve’s decision to keep trimming its economic stimulus drew fire on Friday as India’s central bank chief said Americans should be more attuned to the global impact of their policies, and the IMF called for vigilance given strains in financial markets. The push-back came on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s last day on the job and two days after the U.S. central bank reduced the pace […]
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 […]
Passenger flows through Dubai’s main airport, the world’s second busiest for international traffic, jumped 15.2 percent in 2013 thanks to expansion of its route network and the use of wide-body planes, airport authorities said on Wednesday. Passenger traffic last year totalled a record 66.4 million people. In December, more than 6 million passengers passed though the airport for the first time, an increase of 13.6 percent from […]
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 […]
Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates is expected to move all of its operations to the emirate’s new Al Maktoum International Airport after 2020, a senior executive at Al Maktoum said on Tuesday. Big international carriers, including Emirates, have so far not indicated any plans to move to the new airport, which officially launched passenger services in October last year. “Emirates have to move to the new airport at […]
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 […]
After a scary sell-off in emerging markets in the past week, investors who specialize in the sector are looking for places to hide while also looking for opportunities to benefit. And that means finding countries that have stronger economic underpinnings and political stability, while abandoning or betting against those whose current account balances and government budgets are deeply in the red and where there is political turmoil. […]
The head of Dubai’s Chamber of Commerce strongly disagrees with the estimate of how many jobs the city’s 2020 Expo win will bring to the emirate – he thinks it will be way more. Analysts have calculated that Dubai’s world fair triumph will create 277,000 jobs, about 14 per cent of the current population of Dubai. But not only does Hamad Buamim reckon the figure is feasible, […]
The rupee hits 62.90 in early trade, its lowest level since November 22, as Asian stocks trading with heavy losses. The pair last trading at 62.77/78 vs Friday’s close of 62.66/67. Dealers will closely watch for RBI intervention at current levels after the RBI was suspected to have sold dollars in late session on Friday. The RBI to decide on rates on Tuesday. While the consensus still […]
Asian shares tumbled and the yen reached for seven-week highs against the dollar and euro on Monday as emerging markets remained under pressure, with the U.S. Federal Reserve poised to continue tapering stimulus and tighter credit conditions in China raising fears of a sharper economic slowdown. But U.S. stock futures suggested the selloff might abate later in the session. S&P 500 E-mini futures edged up 0.2 percent […]
|The Arabian Post Special| Reports suggest Dubai has reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi on $20 billion of debt, which it arranged to avert a payment default in the wake of Dubai’s crippling financial crisis. “The rumor is that Abu Dhabi has reached an arrangement with Dubai over the $20 billion payment,” Reuters quoted Mohammed Ali Yasin, managing director of NBAD Securities LLC, as saying on phone. […]
By Simeon Kerr The many daily flights between Dubai and Tehran are always busy. But these days the Iranians heading home after business and shopping trips are being joined by rising numbers of briefcase-toting western and Asian passengers. They are part of a new wave of foreign investors eager to investigate business opportunities in post-sanctions Iran, a potentially lucrative trade that Dubai, the commercial hub of the […]
Gold will extend declines this year as gains in equity markets reduce the need for haven assets and increased regulation hurts risk appetite, according to Morgan Stanley, which lowered its bullion forecasts. The 2014 target was cut 12 percent to $1,160 an ounce and the prediction for 2015 reduced 13 percent to $1,138, analysts Peter Richardson and Joel Crane wrote in a report today. Gold remains under […]
Dubai has initiated a series of bold new measures and incentives including fee waivers and reduced approval timeline for three and four star hotel projects to further stimulate the growth of its vibrant hospitality sector. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, on Monday pronounced a string of directives to this […]
