Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), region’s leading financial market, together with Aldar Properties, on Sunday rang the market opening bell to celebrate the listing of Aldar Investments’ new $500 million sukuk, marking the first corporate sukuk ever to be listed on the exchange. The sukuk, which was raised at a profit rate of 4.75% with …

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE adopted a general expansionary fiscal policy during the first quarter of 2018 and increased its overall annual spending by 15.6 percent due to the recovery in oil prices, which led to increased proceeds from petroleum-based products. The recovery was also driven by a 21.7 percent increase in annual salaries and wages, as well as …

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) concluded its ‘240C Cool’ campaign, and achieved 4.1 percent savings on district cooling consumption in the past three months. The campaign, which was launched in July 2018, seeks to reduce energy consumption through mai-ntaining optimum temperature as well as reducing the value of customers’ consumption bills, in order to achieve sustainable …

VIENNA/ WAM Suleiman Al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has said that supporting development operations in the energy sector lies at the heart of OFID’s strategic plan to 2025. In a statement issued from OFID’s premises in Vienna, Al-Herbish reiterated OFID’s commitment to support sustainable development plans in Arab countries, particularly energy projects, and outlined various …

Bloomberg The Gentleman coal plant was once the linchpin of Nebraska’s electricity grid, its twin smokestacks visible for miles across the prairie. Now, the state’s biggest power source is routinely pushed aside to make room for more wind and solar energy. Operators ramp it down and then bring it back up again, often on a daily basis. That’s not how …

Bloomberg The worst may not be over for India’s state-run oil refiners. The request by the central government that they absorb a portion of sweeping fuel price cuts is raising speculation by analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Jefferies Group LLC that price controls may be reintroduced or further reductions will be demanded. The move comes amid …

Bloomberg Europe will likely need more coal and natural gas this month as the region is spared the usual autumn storms. A high pressure weather system is likely to reroute and block stormy weather that normally travels in easterly paths across northern Europe to boost the output from thousands of wind mills. That will leave the region relying on alternative …

Bloomberg If there’s one thing the prophets agree on, it’s that the end will come in the bond market. Even for stocks. Prophesies of doom are everywhere. There’s billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller, who says our “massive debt problem” will ignite a crisis. Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks warns that public and private debt will be “ground zero when things next go …

Bloomberg Municipal bonds suffered their worst week since early February, but the real test of the market lies ahead: Will slow-to-react individual investors pull their money out in droves, as they have during previous downturns? Individuals, who own more than half of all state and local governments bonds directly or through mutual funds and don’t follow the minute-by-minute movement of …

Bloomberg India’s central bank stared down the rupee’s slide to a record low, opting to keep interest rates unchanged as it flagged risks to the economy from global monetary policy tightening, trade wars and surging oil prices. In a surprise decision, the monetary policy committee led by Governor Urjit Patel voted 5-1 to leave the repurchase rate at 6.5 percent. …