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Bloomberg Oil advanced to highest level since July after the head of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said that the group had been “very conservative” with its oil demand estimates and that there was no global recession on the horizon. Futures rose as much as 1.6% in New York on Tuesday, gaining for the fifth consecutive day. At a …

Bloomberg Arabtec Holding shares soared in Dubai after the company started talks to merge with Abu Dhabi-based Trojan Holding LLC. The stock advanced as much as 13%, the steepest intraday gain since July 2017, as Arabtec said the entities began a study to potentially combine their construction businesses and may merge after technical, financial and legal reviews. It didn’t provide …

Bloomberg A spat between the world’s most populous countries is holding up a pan-Asian trade agreement encompassing nearly a third of all global trade. Trade ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries this week hailed a “critical milestone” after seven years of talks and vowed to wind them up before a regional summit in November. But officials involved in the process say …

Bloomberg State oil giant Saudi Aramco said it’s lining up banks for its long-awaited initial public offering (IOPO) as the sale is now imminent. Banks will be chosen “soon,” Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said at an industry conference in Abu Dhabi. Confirmation of the underwriters will signal that the share sale — set to be the world’s largest — is …

SAINT PETERSBURG / WAM International tourist arrivals grew 4 percent from January to June this year, compared to same period last year, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer published ahead of 23rd World Tourism Organisation General Assembly. Growth was led by the Middle East (+8 percent) and Asia and the Pacific (+6 percent). International arrivals in Europe grew …

Bloomberg Car sales in India suffered their biggest monthly drop on record, as the slump in the country’s auto sector shows no sign of letting up. Deliveries slid 41% in August from a year earlier to 115,957 units, while sales of passenger vehicles including SUVs fell 32%, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on Monday. …

Abu Dhabi / WAM The governments of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have welcomed the response by the Legitimate Government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council, on the Kingdom’s call for dialogue, saying it is “a major and positive step” towards ending the recent crisis in the governorates of Aden, Abyan and Shabwa. The …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s King Salman dismissed Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih and replaced him with one of his sons, putting a royal family member in charge of oil policy in the world’s largest crude exporter for the first time. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a longtime top Energy Ministry official, is an older half-brother to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Analysts …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia has awarded to two Saudi firms contracts to build worker housing for its futuristic mega-city called Neom, as plans for the $500 billion project move forward. Tamimi Group and Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Co. won contracts to finance, build and operate three residential areas with capacity to house 30,000 people, Neom said in a statement on …

Bloomberg The United Nations International Court of Justice granted Kenya’s request to postpone a hearing of a territorial dispute with Somalia, less than a week before it was scheduled to begin. The hearing will now start on November 4. Kenya had requested that it be delayed for a year as it recruits a new defense team. The neighbours claim ownership …