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BRUSSELS / WAM The EU will provide €41 million to help low and middle-income countries facing an unprecedented health, humanitarian and socio-economic crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to persist, combined with the imbalance in the delivery of vaccines. To help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia tackle the consequences of the pandemic, the ...

Bloomberg Global trade in goods might be close to plateauing — albeit at a record level — amid an outlook clouded by regional imbalances and coronavirus outbreaks that slow economic activity, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said. The Geneva-based trade body’s goods trade barometer rises to 110.4 in March, the highest in records going back to 2016, according to a ...

Bloomberg Oil snapped a run of declines as a US industry report pointed to a drop in domestic crude stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate rises 0.5% after a four-day losing run that was the longest since March. The American Petroleum Institute reported that crude inventories fell 1.16 million barrels last week, including a draw at the key storage hub in Cushing, ...

Bloomberg Oil fell for a fourth day, heading for the longest run of losses since March, on the threat to demand from the delta coronavirus variant. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 0.5% after losing almost 3% over the previous three sessions. US gasoline consumption fell for a third week, according to a survey by Descartes Labs, while data from China ...

NEW DELHI / WAM India has launched a series of competitions to popularise Expo 2020 Dubai as its preparations gather steam for participation in the world exposition in just over six weeks. “The main purpose of these competitions is to amplify the core message of the Dubai World Expo: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” according to an overview of the ...

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco is in advanced talks for an all-stock deal to acquire a stake in Reliance Industries Ltd’s oil refining and chemicals business, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Saudi Arabian firm is discussing the purchase of a roughly 20% stake in the Reliance unit for about $20 billion to $25 billion-worth of Aramco shares, the people ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has strongly condemned the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist militias’ systematic attempts to attack civilians and civilian objects in Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia, with an explosive drone, which was intercepted by the Coalition Forces. In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), the UAE reiterated that these systematic terror attacks ...

Bloomberg Oil dipped, trimming a weekly advance, as the fast-spreading delta variant continues to cloud the short-term demand outlook. Futures closed nearly 1% lower in New York, narrowing a weekly gain to 0.2%. The latest Covid-19 wave is leading to tighter curbs on movement across the globe, though there are mixed assessments on its impact. The International Energy Agency (IEA) ...

Bloomberg Initial public offerings are coming thick and fast in mainland China, with Shanghai set to host the world’s two biggest listings this year as domestic investors look past the government’s regulatory crackdown. It’s a different story in Hong Kong, a global center for IPOs that’s seen only one offering so far this month. International investors who use the financial ...

VIENNA / WAM The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has announced the signing of a $70.5 million loan agreement with Jordan to help mitigate the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic by providing social safety net programmes and stimulus packages that aim to retain workers across various economic sectors and create new jobs. According to OFID’s statement, the Fund ...