ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 0.12% to close at 4503.58 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 0.88 billion attaining AED 730.54 billion. A total of 378.09 Million Shares were traded with a total value of AED 0.55 billion during the trading session of 23-03-2016 through 6353 transactions. The number of companies which ...

CANBERRA / Bloomberg Australia’s central bank chief brushed aside US criticism of his comments on the local currency’s level, saying that it was probably too high and pointing to a record of overseeing a floating exchange rate. Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Glenn Stevens said in response to a question after a speech in Sydney that there’s “some risk” ...

Budapest / Bloomberg Hungary’s central bank said it had lowered one of its interest rates into negative territory for the first time, faced with with a drastically weaker inflation outlook. The rate for funds parked by commercial banks with the central bank overnight now stands at -0.05 percent. The bank also cut its main interest rate to 1.20 percent, also ...

Reuters British banks have cut the amount they charge for small international transfers between currencies by more than a fifth in the past three months as competition in the sector continues to grow, an index of market costs showed on Wednesday. Money transfer comparison and intelligence firm FXCompared.com said its quarterly International Money Transfer Index (IMTI) showed banks were starting ...

Zurich / Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is planning to speed up and deepen cuts to the investment bank, five months after it announced an overhaul, said a person with knowledge of the discussions. Switzerland’s second-biggest bank may disclose that it’s accelerating cutbacks to trading businesses, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. ...

Bloomberg Banco Popolare SC is planning to raise about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) through a share sale, bad loan and asset disposals to meet the European Central Bank’s approval for a planned merger with Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The lender sent a letter to the ECB proposing a series of ...

BEIJING / Bloomberg China’s airlines are reaping the benefits of a policy not to hedge in the oil market, unlike some of their rivals across Asia Pacific. The ’Big Three’ — Air China Ltd., China Southern Airlines Co. and China Eastern Airlines Corp., will probably report next week at least a 70 percent surge in net income for 2015 amid ...

SYDNEY / Reuters Richard Branson-backed airline Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said it tapped its top shareholders for a A$425 million ($320 million) loan facility, a step that is expected to help it cut its reliance on the bond market for funds. The loan facility goes some way to address investor concerns that its cash reserves have declined sharply in the ...

LONDON / Reuters Sports Direct lowered its full-year core earnings forecast on Wednesday after Mike Ashley, the owner of Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer, revealed a trading slowdown in a newspaper interview. Flouting the rules on how companies disclose financial information, Ashley told the newspaper on Tuesday that Sports Direct was “in trouble, we are not trading very well”, sending its ...

DALLAS / Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. pilots are seeking pay raises that would give them the highest compensation in the industry plus a bigger company contribution to retirement savings, according to a contract proposal presented to the carrier. The pay increases would average 4.1 percent annually for a compound gain of almost 33 percent over seven years under the plan ...