BLOOMBERG US futures and European stocks advanced, bouncing from losses, ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting at which policymakers are expected to extend their rate-hike cycle. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Dow were higher, after underlying stocks slid in the prior session. Regional US lenders PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp fell in premarket trading, adding to the ...

BLOOMBERG Investors have added almost $600 million to bets that an emerging-market index dominated by Chinese stocks will lose money. Short selling of the $71 billion Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets exchange traded fund (ETF), which tracks an index heavy on Chinese A shares, surged in the past six weeks to $1.12 billion, or 1.6% of the fund, according to IHS ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Aldar Properties has announced a series of achievements and strategic initiatives in its latest quarterly report. The company’s strong performance was driven by increased demand from both international and resident expat buyers, with record quarterly development sales of AED4.5 billion. Aldar’s development revenue backlog also hit an all-time high of AED18.8 billion, which provides visibility over ...

DUBAI / WAM The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday hosted a hybrid event to launch the May 2023 Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for the Middle East and Central Asia region at the Dubai International Financial Centre. The IMF finds that despite global shocks, growth in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region was higher than expected last year. ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The real estate sector in Abu Dhabi has continued its growth trajectory in the first quarter of this year, with 5,472 property sales and mortgages recorded worth AED27.9 billion, compared to 3,304 transactions worth AED11.3 billion during the same period in 2022, according to official data released by the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT). The ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Astra Tech (Astra), a leading consumer technology holding group based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a partnership with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, that will enable customers to book flights through Botim, the Mena region’s leading VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution, which was recently relaunched as an Ultra app. The ...

ABU DHABI / WAM UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday met with Vice President of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and opportunities to develop them further. His Highness welcomed the Vietnamese Vice President, who is on an official visit ...

ABU DHABI / GULF TIME Together with the People, Korea leaps forward once again with K-Culture and tourism enterprises – Focused on the UAE tourism market with a K-Tourism Road Show in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will hold the K-Travel Week (May 1-6) in Dubai and Abu ...

RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, received on Tuesday, at his palace at the Saqr bin Mohammed City, Zhang Yiming, Ambassador of China to the UAE, who came to greet the RAK Ruler. HH Sheikh Saud welcomed Ambassador Yiming and his accompanying delegation, and ...

SHARJAH / WAM His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on behalf of the University of Al Dhaid on Tuesday. The MoU was signed between the University of Al Dhaid, the University of Bristol, and the Royal Agricultural University in the United Kingdom at the ...