Bloomberg A three-decade high for Japan’s soaring stocks is adding to pressure on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to tweak its buying of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to the former head of its financial markets department. “Shares could be rising on a bubble and the BOJ could be helping inflate that bubble,” Hiromi Yamaoka said in an interview, the same ...

Bloomberg Treasury yields held near their highest in a year on Wednesday, while European stocks slipped as investors assessed the bond selloff and a busy day for earnings. The Stoxx 600 Index dropped for a second day, weighed down by retailers, despite some positive corporate news. Akzo Nobel NV rises after beating estimates and announcing plans to repurchase 1 billion ...

Bloomberg At first glance, the weakness in South Korea’s won is an anomaly. Risk appetite is picking up but the currency is heading south. The won, which is susceptible to swings in global sentiment, has dropped almost 2% versus the dollar since the start of the year. It’s underperforming all its emerging Asian peers just as global growth bets are ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Economic and commercial activities in the UAE continued their positive run in the first half of February 2021, reflecting the growing confidence of local and foreign investors in the national economy. Recent statistics issued by the National Economic Register showed that over 4,300 new licences for economic and commercial activities around the country were issued in ...

DUBAI / WAM The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has revealed that it is implementing 129 development projects worth approximately AED11.8 billion, as part of the ministry’s five-year plan (2018-2023). Hassan Mohammed Juma Al Mansouri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM), that the nationwide developments include constructing 70 government buildings at a ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) has signed a cooperation agreement with Tel Aviv Chamber of Commerce (TACC), represented by the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, during a virtual meeting, to increase trade cooperation in a number of business-related sectors. According to the agreement, both sides will jointly work to extend bridges ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has strongly condemned the terrorist attack that targeted various areas in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and killed several innocent people and injured others. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation stressed that the UAE strongly condemns these criminal acts and fully rejects all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at destabilising ...

Bloomberg Oil held gains in New York after rising above $60 a barrel for the first time in a year as a deepening energy crisis in the US disrupted crude production and forced the shutdown of some of the nation’s biggest refineries. As much as 1.7 million barrels a day of oil output has halted and deliveries via pipeline suspended ...

N’DJAMENA / WAM Sheikh Shakhbut bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of State, has met with President Idriss Deby Itno of Chad, on the sidelines of the two-day seventh regular session of Heads of State of the G5 Sahel summit in the Chadian capital N’Djamena. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations and ways to further develop ...

VIENNA / WAM The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a $20 million public sector loan agreement with Kenya to increase regional connectivity, enhance trade and improve the socio-economic welfare of about 1.6 million people. The loan will finance the upgrading of the 90 km Samatar – Wajir Road, a part of the North and North-Eastern Development Initiative ...