Bloomberg Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank converted its Saudi operation into a locally incorporated bank with 7.5 billion riyals ($2 billion) capi- tal, as the lender looks to boost its presence in the kingdom. The bank’s Saudi arm will be owned equally by GIB, as the Bahraini lender is known, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, according to a statement. Abdulla …

DUBAI / WAM UAE stocks maintained their upward movement and gained around AED6.2 billion in market cap at the end of the Sunday session, driven by a spree of selective purchases targeting blue chips and positive quarterly statements announced by the leading listed companies. Amidst the overall bullish sentiments, the general index of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange closed at …

Emirates Business To the tune of AED39 billion in cash dividends have been paid out by listed Emirati companies for their stockholders for the year 2018. The generous cash distributions, which earn the UAE companies the lead over other Middle East-based firms in terms of dividend payouts, are reflective of the high-yield stocks traded in the country’s two main bourses …

Bloomberg Total SA plans to start a digital factory in the coming weeks to tap artificial intelligence in a bid to save hundreds of millions of dollars on exploration and production projects, according to an executive. The use of artificial intelligence to screen geological data will help identify new prospects, and shorten the time to acquire licenses, drill and make …

Bloomberg After marking the best start in seven years, Taiwan’s booming loan market is about to get a further fillip. Jumbo financings for offshore wind farm projects are expected to drive syndicated loan volumes this year, according to CTBC Bank. Taiwan’s bid last week to coax its business people to bring back home billions in overseas assets is set to …

Bloomberg A storm is brewing for Malaysian bonds, as the threat of an $8 billion outflow and a falling ringgit erode sentiment, even in the face of a likely interest-rate cut. The biggest rally in ringgit bonds in three years, fuelled by bets for policy easing, has ground to a halt. FTSE Russell sparked the latest — and perhaps biggest …

Bloomberg Smaller US stocks may be worth watching right now for both their relative performance and their technical picture. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks has fallen 1.5 percent since February 22, while the S&P 500 index, which tracks the biggest American companies, has risen 4 percent. And that difference could bode ill for the entire stock market, equity …

Bloomberg As merger talks between Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG appear to run into more obstacles, potential suitors are jockeying for a piece of the German banking market should government efforts to create a national champion fail. Commerzbank, the smaller of the two, is attracting the most interest, perhaps because it would be easier to digest. Dutch lender ING …

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. is once again flirting with something that no major US bank has done in a decade: have a dividend yield north of 4 percent. The spike in the yield comes as the result of sliding shares rather than profit growth. Wells Fargo dropped as much as 1 percent in early trading after gaining 2.5 percent …

Bloomberg India’s new government should review the central bank’s inflation goals, including whether consumer pri-ces or the underlying core measure is the appropriate target to use to determine interest rates, an economic adviser to the current prime minister said. Speaking in his personal capacity, and not as a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Advisory Council, Rathin Roy said …