A surge in lending to investors by brokerages in the United Arab Emirates has helped make Dubai the world’s second-best performing market this year, but has left it prey to volatility. Some investors have been able to make profits in the range of 40 to 60 percent this year on local stock markets but the question is whether such margin lending – borrowing with cash or holdings […]
The low quality in construction labor and raw material used to build several buildings, especially those up for sale, has unleashed a wave of anger at contracting companies in charge of carrying out projects. Many complaints were recently filed by buyers and real estate companies against contracting companies focusing on low quality construction, breach of the terms of signed contracts, the use of cheap construction material, late […]
MANILA: The Philippine economy posted robust expansion in the second quarter, matching the pace of China as the two fastest growing in Asia, as strong fundamentals and domestic spending buttressed the country from the region’s fund outflows. The solid growth pace lifted the peso from nearly 3-year lows and would help the Philippines keep its favoured status among investors amid more market volatility. The Philippines has overtaken […]
The patriotism of wealthy overseas Indians has helped the country avert economic crises in the past and it is little surprise that embattled policymakers are turning to them again to plug a record trade gap that is battering the rupee. This time, though, big investors among the more than 25-million overseas Indian community – the world’s second-largest diaspora – are staying away as the economic outlook darkens […]
Gulf stock markets stabilised by the close on Wednesday after plunging in early trade on the prospect of an escalation of Syria’s civil war, as the United States threatened a military strike on Damascus over the use of chemical weapons. Stocks had also tumbled on Tuesday and selling resumed on Wednesday morning as local retail investors, who have dominated trade in recent weeks, scrambled to lock in […]
Dubai’s stock market reputation as a safe haven in the Middle East was jolted this week as the possibility of a U.S. military strike against Syria spooked all global asset classes. The benchmark DFM stock index slumped 7% on Aug. 27, making it the worst global stock market performer that day. It fell another 1% today as the prospect of Syria’s woes spreading to the wider region, […]
India’s rupee plummeted more than 3 percent to a record on concern a surge in oil prices will worsen the current account and push the economy toward its biggest crisis in more than two decades. Stocks and bonds plunged. The U.S., France and the U.K. are considering limited military action against Syria after concluding the regime used chemical weapons against civilians, fanning concern unrest will disrupt Middle […]
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran’s take-home salary would be the envy of many investment bankers. With his majestic ten-and-a-half-foot frame, the elegant Kerala resident is said to earn Rs 1 crore by working just seven months a year. Little wonder then that he’s a Facebook star. Except that the 48-year-old Ramachandran is a large elephant, and a wildly popular fixture in most ceremonial temple processions in the state. His […]
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 […]
Dubai’s stock index plunged the most in the world as the Obama administration vowed to hold Syria’s government liable for chemical weapons attacks. The DFM General Index slid 5.2 percent, the most August 2011 and the steepest slump among more than 90 global benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg, to 2,600.81 at 12:27 p.m. in Dubai. Emaar Properties , the United Arab Emirates’ biggest publicly traded developer, retreated to […]
The Indian rupee hit a record low and shares slumped on Tuesday after parliament’s approval of a $20 billion plan to provide cheap grain to the poor renewed doubts about the government’s resolve to control spending ahead of elections due next year. The alarm over India’s fiscal deficit eclipsed an announcement by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram that the government had approved infrastructure projects worth 1.83 trillion rupees […]
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 […]
Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar rose to new multi-year highs on Thursday despite a sell-off in emerging markets around the world, as retail investors in the Gulf bought selected stocks viewed as laggards. Egypt’s bourse rose on the back of a reduction in street violence. “It’s a good surprise to see that the most internationally-linked markets like UAE have been resilient despite the […]
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 […]
At least two major global investment banks are maintaining that the beleaguered Indian rupee, which is already down about 15 per cent since the beginning of 2013, could see a further deterioration of about 10.5 per cent in the near future and slump to Rs70 against the US dollar. That would equate to a level of Rs19 against the UAE dirham, and if attained, this exchange rate […]
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 […]
Emirates NBD, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank by assets, expects to raise more than $12 billion for clients in the remainder of the year, boosting investment banking income as the lender seeks expansion. The Dubai government-controlled lender has mandates for about 20 bond and loan deals after helping raise $14.6 billion for clients in 23 such transactions so far this year, Giel-Jan Van Der Tol, the […]
Asian markets were under the cosh on Thursday as a spike in U.S. bond yields drove up borrowing costs globally, and even surprisingly strong data from China couldn’t completely staunch the bleeding. Emerging markets again bore the brunt of the selling as many have come to rely on cheap dollars to underpin domestic demand and fund current account deficits. The currencies of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all […]
A programming error at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. caused unintended stock-option orders to flood American exchanges this morning, roiling markets and shaking confidence in electronic trading infrastructure. An internal system that Goldman Sachs uses to help prepare to meet market demand for equity options inadvertently produced orders with inaccurate price limits and sent them to exchanges, said a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to […]
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 […]
