Bloomberg Hong Kong unveiled its first stamp-duty increase on stock trades since 1993, sparking a broad selloff in the $7.6 trillion market and sending shares of the city’s exchange to their biggest plunge in more than five years. The planned trading-tax increase to 0.13% from 0.10% was part of a raft of new measures announced in Hong Kong’s budget that …

Bloomberg The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) shut trading in its cash and derivative segments earlier on Wednesday, citing “issues” with telecom links of its two service providers, which it said impacted the system and stopped prices from updating. “We are working on restoring the systems as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for NSE, the world’s biggest derivatives …

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has strongly condemned the cowardly attack that targeted a convoy of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) near Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Italian ambassador to the DRC and two other people were killed during the attack. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs …

Bloomberg Oil rose near $62 a barrel with investment banks and traders predicting the market’s rally can go further. Futures in New York gained 0.8% on Tuesday and are up almost 30% so far this year. The market is heading towards what could be the tightest quarter since at least 2000, according to Morgan Stanley, while Socar Trading SA sees …

Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd has started carving out its new oil-to-chemicals operation into an independent unit with a $25 billion loan from the parent, as billionaire Mukesh Ambani steps up efforts to unlock the value of his businesses. The wholly owned unit’s assets will be funded by the interest-bearing loan, which will be an “efficient mechanism to upstream cash, including …

Bloomberg China’s overseas energy financing dropped to the lowest level since 2008 after the pandemic hampered deal-making in developing nations. Financing for foreign energy projects, including power plants and mines, fell by 43% to $4.6 billion, according to Boston University’s Global Energy Finance Database, which tracks data from two state-owned development banks. More than half of lending was for a …

Bloomberg European stocks dropped with US equity futures on Tuesday as the jump in bond yields and commodity prices continued to hammer technology shares. The Stoxx 600 Index turned lower, with tech among the laggards for a second straight day while energy shares outperformed. HSBC Holdings Plc edged lower even after results beat estimates in the fourth quarter. Hong Kong …

Bloomberg BlackRock Inc. said it’s turned bearish on credit and government bonds, downgrading the two asset classes to underweight over the long-term because of high valuations and inflation expectations. A stronger economy on the back of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, combined with the potential for as much as $2.8 trillion of additional fiscal stimulus and higher inflation will drive up …

KUWAIT / WAM Official delegations representing the United Arab Emirates and the State of Qatar met in the brotherly State of Kuwait on Monday in the first meeting between the two sides to follow up on the Al-Ula Declaration. The two sides discussed joint mechanisms and procedures to implement the Al-Ula Declaration and underscored the importance of preserving Gulf unity, …

BAHRAIN / WAM Investcorp, a Bahrain-based asset manager that counts Mubadala Investment Company as its biggest shareholder, on Monday announced that one of its affiliates has acquired a majority ownership position in KSM Consulting, a leading consulting firm specialising in data analytics, technology and digital transformation, from Renovus Capital Partners, which will continue to maintain a minority stake in KSMC. …