Bloomberg Italian manufacturing is picking up at the fastest pace in nearly three years, a bright spot in an economy that probably shrank close to 10% during the 2020 pandemic. Factories, mostly located in the country’s north, saw a sustained upturn in output in January, with orders expanding at a solid pace thanks to demand from Europe and North America, ...

Bloomberg Global stocks and US futures climbed as concern over volatile retail trading receded and China took steps to ease a cash crunch. Silver crossed $30 an ounce for the first time since 2013 in a Reddit-fuelled frenzy. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index rallied 1%, led by silver mining companies. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.7%, the biggest gain in ...

Bloomberg South African stocks have made their best start to the year since 2012, even after last-week’s pullback, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America are among those predicting further gains. A global appetite for riskier assets has propelled emerging market inflows and the Johannesburg exchange is set to benefit from its heavy weighting in mining stocks as ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai on Sunday launched the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world through the emirate. The move follows the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. In support of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX initiative and its efforts to ...

Sharjah / WAM Sharjah-based real estate developer Arada has announced the launch of Masaar, the developer’s third project, a mega community in the Al Juwaiza’a district of New Sharjah with a sales value of AED8 billion. The 19 million square foot upscale project will include 4,000 villas and townhouses in total, all set in eight gated districts linked by Masaar’s ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, Hub71, has forged two new partnerships with leading academic institutions — the United Arab Emirates University’s Science and Innovation Park (UAEU SIP) and INSEAD Middle East Campus – to upskill talent in Abu Dhabi and attract new science and technological capabilities to its growing tech community. Abu Dhabi’s embrace of technology ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has expressed his condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, on the death of Prince Turki bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In his message, President Khalifa asked Allah the Almighty to rest the deceased in ...

DUBAI / WAM HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, has chaired the Council’s 63rd meeting held remotely. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Energy, attended the meeting along with the board members. The meeting ...

Bloomberg Chemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) expects sales and earnings to increase this year after it beat analysts’ estimates by making a profit in 2020. The Riyadh-based firm, controlled by Saudi Aramco, said it sees the global rollout of coronavirus vaccines leading to a 2% to 5% gain in revenue this year. Pretax income will be “moderately higher” ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates has made innovation a way of life and an administrative approach to modernising government work and strengthening sustainable economic development based on clear plans and strategies, enabling the country to be ranked first in the Arab region and 34th globally in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020. On February 1, “Innovation Month ...