CAIRO / Reuters Encouraged by Egypt’s economic reforms, a major gas find, streamlined business rules and a devalued currency, investors are increasingly optimistic about prospects for the North African country after years of political turmoil. Foreign holdings of Treasury bills hit a record high in December, foreign inflows into the stock market last year were the highest since 2010 and …

Bloomberg Oman has accepted an amount of $210 million grant from Saudi Arabia to fund two projects at its flagship Arabian Sea port of Duqm, a rare agreement between two countries. The funding, which will be provided by the Saudi Development Fund, will finance a 61-million-rial ($158 million) fishing facility and a road costing 20 million rials, state-run Oman News …

Bloomberg India, the largest buyer of solar equipment from neighbouring China, is considering a 7.5 percent tax on imported solar panels, according to government officials with knowledge of the situation. Such imports aren’t taxed now, but might be reclassified as motors, which are subject to the tariff, the officials said, asking not to be named until a final decision was …

Bloomberg The UK Health and Safety Executive is investigating the causes of a crack in a key North Sea oil pipeline that disrupted production at more than 80 fields for weeks. While an HSE spokesman couldn’t comment further on the matter, such investigations aren’t automatically triggered. Incidents must be severe or unusual enough to meet the regulator’s criteria for a …

Bloomberg Angola is poised to become the latest emerging nation to abandon its currency peg as it seeks to rescue an economy still reeling from the oil-price crash four years ago. The southern African nation, an OPEC member, said this week it would let the kwanza trade within a new band. The rate at which it’s been fixed against the …

Bloomberg It always looks inevitable in retrospect. Why wouldn’t US stocks rally, surging to the biggest weekly gain in a year, amid earnings euphoria like this? With no hint of fatigue, the S&P 500 Index spent the holiday-shortened week rolling past 2,700, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 25,000. Ninety-eight companies in the Nasdaq 100 rose. It happened …

Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Sunday after King Salman announced a package of handouts for Saudi citizens to compensate for rising living costs, while Qatar was the strongest market in the region ahead of dividend announcements. The Saudi index gained 0.6 percent. Shares in most retail sector firms, which could benefit from the package’s boost to consumer spending …

Bloomberg The US central bank should take its time before raising interest rates again to avoid inverting the yield curve and because inflation is still low, said Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker. In remarks during the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in Philadelphia, Harker also revealed a dovish rate call for 2018: two hikes instead …

Bloomberg China’s foreign-exchange reserves posted an 11th straight monthly increase, capping a year of recovery amid tighter capital controls, a stronger yuan and resilient economic growth. The reserves climbed $20.7 billion to $3.14 trillion in December, according to a People’s Bank of China statement on Sunday, compared with a $3.13 trillion median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. That brought the …

Bloomberg The dollar’s status as the world’s most popular funding currency is stronger than ever, helping to push the greenback lower even in the face of bullish drivers such as the US tax overhaul and higher short-term bond yields. A buoyant global economy is encouraging borrowing in dollars by overseas corporations and governments, overwhelming the domestic forces, according to Morgan …