In an astonishing fashion, and going against everything political scientists have long thought about U.S. politics, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is shooting to the top of the field of candidates. Moreover, Trump is quietly gaining unexpected support in a far-away country: China. Increasingly, Chinese netizens follow Trump’s primary and caucus wins, which have been coming one after the other. ...

Vietnam has been among Asia’s top performers in recent times, bucking a region-wide trade recession despite tensions with China, its biggest trading partner. For the nation’s reformers though, Vietnam’s economic and political rise could be just about to start. In a joint report released February 23 by the Vietnamese government and the World Bank, the authors suggested the Southeast Asian ...

China’s growth is slowing, probably for good. But the form that the slowdown is taking isn’t yet known. The question is whether China’s troubles will be more like a typical emerging-market crisis, or more like the typical bust in a large developed country. Every nation undergoes a growth slump at some point. For good background on the phenomenon, check out ...

ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has increased by 0.86% to close at 4393.75 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has gained AED 6.06 billion attaining AED 712.72 billion. A total of 1.56 billion shares were traded with a total value of AED 2.19 billion during the trading session of 01-3-2016 through 17600 transactions. The number of companies which ...

Bloomberg Global stocks rallied with U.S. equity futures, emerging-market currencies rose and crude oil climbed to an eight-week high as monetary stimulus in China brightened prospects for the world’s second-largest economy. Benchmark share indexes advanced across Asia after the People’s Bank of China cut lenders’ reserve requirements, freeing up funds to help spur lending. Russia’s ruble and South Africa’s rand ...

Bloomberg Trading in European stocks surged to the highest level since 2011, countering global trends and showing the extent to which investors betting on gains in the region got caught off guard when markets turned lower. The number of shares tied to the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index that changed hands jumped to almost 3.7 billion a day on average ...

Doha / Emirates Business There was a lull in the otherwise buoyant real estate market in January as owners held on to their properties due to weak demand and reduced prices, says a real estate market expert. “So potential buyers weren’t willing to offer the old, higher rates, and that was why the value of property deals in January was ...

Doha / Emirates Business Qatar banks’ credit to real estate sector jumped 27.36 percent to QR125bn in 2015, compared to QR95bn reported a year ago. Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) preliminary estimates for the fourth quarter of 2015 showed the credit distribution to the sector hit at QR114bn during the third quarter of 2015. The banks’ total domestic credit rose to ...

SYDNEY / Bloomberg Sydney dwelling values climbed for the second consecutive month, clawing back some of the losses from the end of 2015, according to CoreLogic Inc. Home values in the nation’s largest city increased 0.5 percent in February, the research firm said in a statement on Tuesday. Notwithstanding the increase, Sydney home values are still down 0.2 percent in ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg The U.S. is a nation divided — divided between zip codes where economic times are good and zip codes where they really aren’t. This map was compiled by the Economic Innovation Group, a new Washington think tank with Silicon Valley backing. It’s based on a variety of economic indicators, most for the years 2010 to 2014, ...