Reuters Gulf stock markets were mixed despite strong oil prices on Tuesday while Saudi Arabia’s insurance sector continued to recover from last week’s losses. The main Saudi index inched up 0.2 percent. In the insurance sector, which sank last week on expectations for a shakeout in the sector caused by tougher regulation, Malath Insurance surged 9.9 percent after the trading ...

Bloomberg China’s banks are still bingeing on short-term financing, defying analyst predictions that they would wean themselves off such debt as regulators intensify a crackdown on leverage. Sales of negotiable certificates of deposit — a key funding source for medium and smaller banks — surged 49 percent from a year ago in the third quarter to a record 5.4 trillion ...

Bloomberg Thailand rejected claims that it engages in unfair currency practices to gain a trade advantage, even as the nation appears close to meeting US criteria on exchange-rate manipulation. In fact, the central bank faces criticism for doing too little to curb gains in the baht, the strongest performer in Asia this year, according to Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn. Countries ...