Bloomberg As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is set to start implementing its new six-month agreement to cut output, members responsible for most of the reductions have pledged to extend or even deepen it. Officials from Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed with Saudi Arabia’s expectation that the group, along with Russia and other oil …

ABU DHABI / WAM President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, sent a cable of condolences to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo on victims of tsunami that hit Sunda Strait beaches. HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown …

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, Empower, has started the construction of a permanent district cooling plant in Barsha Heights. At a projected cost of AED169 million, the plant will have a total capacity of 31,250 refrigeration tonnes (RT). This is a part of Empower’s efforts to develop more areas and increase the operational efficiency of existing district …

Bloomberg Attorneys general from nine coastal states are intervening in a lawsuit aimed at blocking seismic surveys that could help pinpoint oil under Atlantic waters but also imperil whales and dolphins. The move brings the heft and resources of top state law enforcement officials to a fight over the future of oil and gas exploration along the US East Coast. …

Bloomberg Solar-panel makers had an awful 2018, but their customers really enjoyed it. Module manufacturers lost about 40 percent of their market value this year, even as the number of installations hit another record. The problem? Most makers are having to sell solar modules for below cost to compete with Chinese supplies. That’s helped buyers of solar power, which in …

Bloomberg With oil hovering just above its lowest level since August 2017, at least one large investor is dumping a BlackRock Inc exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the global energy industry. Two large blocks of the $1.4 billion iShares Global Energy ETF, or IXC, sold. The first was 1.1 million shares worth $34 million at 10:37 am in New York, and …

Bloomberg If you asked investors a few months ago what they’d remember about this year’s market, it would’ve been the storm of volatility that laid everything low in February. That episode is starting to seem quaint. Maybe nothing out of the ordinary is happening to stocks by historical standards, but try telling that to traders, who instead of relaxing for …

Bloomberg Foreign investors piling into South Korean bonds have made them the second-best performers in emerging Asia in the past six months. The coming week may give them more reason to keep buying. Seen as a haven from this year’s sell-off in emerging-market assets, the nation’s debt has drawn $45.6 billion from global funds this year. A weakening won — …

Bloomberg When it comes to reversing their crisis-era bond buying, central bankers are focussed on the destination. Traders in risk assets care more about what could be a painful journey. The contrasting views upset markets this week. Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the notion that the Federal Reserve would remain on auto pilot when trimming its $4 trill- ion portfolio, and …

Bloomberg Investors pulled money out of US loan funds at a record pace, withdrawing $3.3 billion in the week ended December 19, as they grew increasingly spooked by market turmoil. It was the fifth straight week of outflows of more than $1 billion, an exodus that’s driven prices to the lowest since September 2016, according to the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan …