Reuters Middle Eastern stock markets fell on Tuesday because of the global downturn in equities, but the region outperformed emerging markets in Asia, where MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan plunged 3.6 percent. Because of low oil prices and poor liquidity, the Gulf greatly underperformed the uptrend in global emerging markets in 2017, so fund managers say it may …

Bloomberg BP Plc dodged the disappointment that afflicted other oil-company earnings as it did a better job of exploiting the upswing in crude prices. Oil and gas output rose following the startup of seven new projects last year, helping the London-based giant post a fivefold increase in fourth-quarter profit from a year earlier to the highest since the start of …

CAPE TOWN / Reuters Angola sees no further OPEC cuts in 2018 and Africa’s No. 2 crude exporter hopes to join the ranks of gold producers next year as it strives to diversify an economy long based on oil and diamonds, its minerals and petroleum minister said on Tuesday. Angola, where oil wealth has failed to translate into wider prosperity, …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia plans to spend 120 billion riyals ($32 billion) on subsidised home loans for borrowers, as it seeks to create conditions for an expanded private-sector role in a mortgage market dominated by the government. The kingdom’s new housing program, announced, also includes an 18 billion riyal loan-guarantee program to boost access to funding, and 12.5 billion riyals to …

Bloomberg Halliburton Co. isn’t content to limit its battle for market share with Schlumberger Ltd. to the oil field these days. It’s opened a new front in an unlikely place: the patent office. The Houston-based provider of drilling services is waging an aggressive campaign to persuade the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel some of Schlumberger’s fracking-related patents, telling …

Bloomberg Oil slid to a two-week low and headed for its longest losing streak in two months as a plunge in US equities dragged other markets lower. Crude futures in New York fell a third day, sliding as much as 1.3 percent. Stock indexes from Japan to Germany tumbled on Tuesday after a frantic sell-off in US shares sent the …

Bloomberg India’s lenders, already struggling with $210 billion of stressed assets, may have to prepare for another hit as early as the coming financial year if new accounting norms kick in as planned on April 1. The IndAS — based on the IFRS9 standards created in the aftermath of the financial crisis — would require banks to make provisions for …

Bloomberg Mario Draghi said that the European Central Bank still can’t claim success in its struggle to restore inflation, and defended its policies from complaints that they widen inequalities. “While our confidence that inflation will converge towards our aim of below, but close to, 2 percent has strengthened, we cannot yet declare victory on this front,” the ECB president said …

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom’s largest lender, reported an 11.8 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by a drop in expenses and lower impairment charges. The bank made a net profit of 2.56 billion riyals ($683 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, up from 2.29 billion riyals in the same period …

Bloomberg The abrupt selloff on global markets is happening as investors pull out of emerging markets at the fastest pace since the 2016 US presidential election. The withdrawal, largest in Asian countries, is a reminder that even as the region fuels the world economy’s best performance in years, it remains vulnerable to the whims of market sentiment. It could also …