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Bloomberg Investors in Gulf assets breathed a sigh of relief after US President Donald Trump showed restraint against Iran. Calling off airstrikes and opting for additional sanctions on Iran eases the risk of military combat between the Persian nation and its Arab neighbours, and will probably have a positive impact on GCC spreads, according to Arqaam Capital Ltd. “While GCC …

Bloomberg China has the strength and patience to withstand the trade war, and will fight to the end if the US administration persists with it, China’s state-run People’s Daily said in an editorial on Saturday. The US must drop all tariffs imposed on China if it wants to negotiate on trade, and only an equal dia- logue can resolve the …

Bloomberg Bitcoin breached $10,000 for the first time in about 15 months, recouping more than half of the parabolic increase that introduced mainstream investors to the digital asset before the bursting of the cryptocurrency bubble. “The bounce back of Bitcoin has been fairly extraordinary,” said Geo-rge McDonaugh, chief executive and co-founder of London-based block-chain and cryptocurrency investment firm KR1 Plc. …

Bloomberg Call it the trifecta that gave rocket fuel to the gold market: Powell, positioning and politics. Gold ended the week trading near $1,400 and recorded bigg-est weekly gain in three years. It was Jerome Powell’s signal that Federal Reserve is moving closer to lowering interest rates and a brewing conflict between Iran and the US that lit a spark …

GENEVA / WAM The number of people fleeing war, persecution, and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018. This is the highest level that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has seen in its almost 70 years. Data from UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, released on Wednesday, shows almost 70.8 million people are now forcibly displaced. To put this in perspective, this …

Bloomberg Global oil demand growth is slowing. That is the view of all three major oil forecasting organisations, who have cut their assessments for what they expect in terms of an increase in crude consumption this year. The latest outlooks from the International Energy Agency, the US Energy Information Administration and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) all show …

Dubai / Emirates Business Landmark Group and HSBC have completed a first-of-its-kind transaction that connected two independently- built blockchain platforms, proving their interoperability and showing how collaborative technologies can further accelerate international trade in the future. It also marks a major step forward in the Middle East’s retail industry adopting blockchain. The transaction involved a shipment from Bee Dee Industries …

Dubai / Emirates Business Homegrown UAE company Zbooni has announced it has just closed its latest funding round of $1.1 million from Chalhoub Group and B&Y Venture Partners to continue to grow the business. With a strong growth record over two years, it is handling millions of dirhams of sale transactions per month through its connected chat commerce app. The …

Bloomberg Oil rose, reversing earlier declines, as the European Central Bank said it may pump more stimulus into the region’s economy and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies made progress in setting a date to discuss extending supply cuts. Futures gained as much as 4.5 percent in New York. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and …

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates drew up to AED111.7 billion in FDI flows during the period from 2016 through 2018, bringing its overall volume of foreign investments to circa AED511 billion. According to the World Investment Report 2019, released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the UAE ranked 27th globally in attracting FDI flows …