Saudi Arabia’s 30-year bonds are outperforming other Gulf debt during volatility triggered by Donald Trump’s election as US president, a sign of unsatisfied demand for Saudi debt and a good omen for issuance expected from Riyadh next year. The week to Nov. 16 saw the largest outflows from emerging market debt on record, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, partly because Trump’s election fuelled expectations of […]
While most global equity markets were subdued due to the US Thaksgiving holiday, the FX world was very busy overnight, marked by the relentless dollar surge on expectations of a rate hike not only in December but further in 2017, sending Asian currencies to the weakest level in 7 years: the Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index reached 103.32, the lowest level since March 2009. The regional FX plunge […]
China has become the first country to receive more than 1m patent applications in a single year — a record the World Intellectual Property Organisation said reflected “extraordinary” levels of innovation in the world’s most populous nation. “[The Chinese] are making innovation a central part of their economic strategy,” Francis Gurry, director-general of the UN agency, said at a briefing in Geneva. While sceptics have long argued […]
November 24, 2016 by: Jamie Chisholm, Global Markets Commentator Thursday 08:30 GMT. European equity markets are trading cautiously in the wake of solid US data that bolstered the case for a near-term rate rise from the Federal Reserve and which has triggered another bout of dollar strength. The rampant buck is battering many emerging market currencies and leaves gold down $5 to $1,182.5 an ounce, the metal’s […]
November 24, 2016 by: Yuan Yang in Beijing and Peter Wells in Hong Kong Ctrip International has agreed to pay £1.4bn ($1.7bn) for Skyscanner, the Scottish airfare comparison website, in move that will help the Chinese online travel group target the country’s booming outbound tourism industry. Some 120m Chinese tourists went abroad last year — more than double the number of 2010, according to the China Tourism Research […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as uncertainty ahead of a planned OPEC-led crude production cut and thin liquidity due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday kept traders from making big new bets on markets. International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were trading at $49.00 at 0403 GMT, up 5 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude […]
Dubai tabloid newspaper 7Days is set to shut down by the end of December as a result of severe advertising cuts. Owners 7Days Media said the entire news operation, including the website, will close on December 31, with the last newspaper issue being printed on December 22. It is understood that about 120 jobs will be lost. In September, the newspaper announced that it would be publishing […]
Nasdaq is asking regulators to approve a new order type in the latest example of how the dynamics of speed are changing in the world’s largest equity market. In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US exchanges operator proposed a so-called extended life priority order attribute, which would give priority to retail orders seen by the whole market when traders agree not to cancel […]
The US government bond market suffered a renewed sell-off and the dollar powered to a fresh 13-year high on Wednesday, as stronger economic data bolstered the case for an interest-rate increase and reinforced the view that the multi-decade bond bull market has reached a turning point. The Republican sweep of the White House and Congress, coupled with president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to unleash a $1tn economic stimulus […]
An experimental Alzheimer’s medicine has flunked a large clinical trial, wiping more than $10bn off the market value of its developer Eli Lilly and dealing a significant setback to the hunt for a drug to delay the fatal disease. Investors and analysts had tipped the medicine, known as Solanezumab, or Sola, to be the first drug that could delay dementia in Alzheimer’s patients, after earlier studies appeared […]
Mid-morning last Friday, as Tokyo’s foreign-exchange traders were contemplating lunch, the first pictures of Donald Trump meeting the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, flashed up. The yen bears loved it. Setting aside the gold-encrusted Babylonian decor of Trump Tower and forced bonhomie, conventional market wisdom before November 9 was that an image like this would send global investors everywhere screaming into haven, long yen positions. Forget an […]
A record run of declines; its worst performance since last year’s surprise devaluation and eight-year lows plumbed on a near-daily basis. Whichever way you cut it, China’s currency is having a testing month. However, unlike the infamous devaluation ruckus in August 2015, and the turmoil in markets that followed renminbi weakness in January, investors are not panicking this time. At least not yet. This month the offshore […]
China’s handling of its state reserves of raw materials such as cotton and sugar will be a key factor shaping the direction of agricultural commodities in 2017, according to a major lender to agribusinesses. China is “the most striking wildcard” that will drive agricultural markets, said Stefan Vogel, head of agri commodity markets at Rabobank, the Dutch lender that is a leading financier to farmers and agribusinesses […]
The overview Wednesday 2.20am GMT Asian equities continue to rally on Wednesday after Wall Street notched up another set of record highs overnight, while the US dollar is trading flat. Standout stories The Dow Jones Industrial Average deserves a mention for closing above 19,000 points for the first time, while its peer US stock indices again closed at record highs. Monday was the first time since 1999 […]
SYDNEY Asian stocks crept to one-week highs on Wednesday as investors tried to share in the exuberance of Wall Street, where the three main indices seized record peaks for a second straight session. Australia’s main index led the early action with a rise of 0.5 percent to a one-month top, helped by strength in bulk commodity prices. Japan’s Nikkei .N225 was closed for a holiday after enjoying […]
Global lenders’ need to cut the mounting cost of running their swaps portfolios has turned what was once a cottage industry into a cornerstone of the global derivatives industry. BGC Partners, the US interdealer broker, became the latest to underline this trend after revealing the value of interest rate swaptions it had torn up for banks this year more than trebled to $3.5tn. A swaption gives a […]
By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks edged higher in afternoon trading on Tuesday, pushing the Dow above the 19,000 level and the S&P 500 above 2,200, though a fall in healthcare stocks weighed on the market. All three indexes along with the small-cap Russell 2000 index again hit intraday record highs, a day after all four indexes set record closing highs, extending their […]
Investors pushed US equity benchmarks further into record territory on Tuesday, buoyed by expectations of a hefty economic spending plan by the incoming Republican administration. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 2,203 in the opening minutes of trading while the Dow Jones Industrial Average popped above 19,000 for the first time. That came a day after Wall Street set a quartet of records, with all […]
Investors were set to push US equity benchmarks further into record territory on Tuesday, buoyed by higher oil prices and expectations of a hefty economic spending plan by the incoming Republican administration. S&P 500 futures were firmer ahead of New York open and a day after Wall Street set a quartet of records, with all four of the country’s main equity indices closing at fresh peaks. The […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stocks struck one-week highs with investors undeterred by a powerful earthquake in Japan on Tuesday, but after Wall Street closed at a record peak they were also wary of chasing prices higher until President-elect Donald Trump picks his economic team. Crude oil extended gains in Asian trading with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) up 1 percent in early […]
When a man goes bankrupt it happens in two ways: first gradually, then suddenly. Those who look to financial markets for meaningful information about the future must accept the risk that the market may be wrong. The problem for those who place their faith in its predictive powers is that — like the bankrupt described by Ernest Hemingway — when investors discover they are wrong they too […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose around 1 percent on Monday as OPEC moved closer to an output cut to rein in oversupply that has pressured prices for over two years. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $47.31 per barrel at 0743 GMT, up 65 cents, or 0.96 percent, from their last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up 0.9 percent, […]
November 21, 2016 by: Peter Wells in Hong Kong and Michael Hunter in London Monday 08.00 GMT. Oil prices are making notable gains, tracking the prospect of a deal on output cuts between major producers, setting Brent crude on course for its first two-session advance since early October. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is up 1.3 per cent at $47.47 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is […]
Three Abu Dhabi banks denied they were in merger talks on Sunday, sending their share prices lower as investor hopes of a shake-up in the banking sector were dashed. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Union National Bank (UNB) and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank in separate statements to the bourse each denied they were involved in merger plans. Shares in the lenders had been suspended earlier on Sunday […]
