London / AFP Europe’s main stock markets dropped on Wednesday, with focus once more on Italian bank Monte dei Paschi, whose shares tumbled on fading hopes that it will avoid a state bailout. Around 1115 GMT, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent compared with the close on Tuesday. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 slipped 0.1 …

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Wednesday on the eve of the government’s release of its 2017 budget, and Egypt’s extended a bull run fuelled by for- eign money and last month’s float of the Egyptian pound. The Saudi stock index climbed 0.4 percent, though trading volume shrank to its lowest level in two months as …

    Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited drive to free up more oil revenue by shifting to solar power generation is expected to pick up speed next quarter, according to local developers eyeing contracts. “I’m fully expecting within the first quarter 500 megawatts to come out in tenders and then it’ll ramp up,” said Paddy Padmanathan, the chief executive officer of …