Reuters Shares of Saudi Arabia’s top food producers, Savola and Almarai, fell on Wednesday after Savola said it was selling a small stake in the dairy maker, while Qatar’s bourse closed at a 52-month low as foreign funds continued to exit. The Riyadh index fell 0.3 percent with Savola declining 1.8 percent to 46.55 riyals, after initially surging to an …

Bloomberg UBS Group AG sees bank profits under pressure as European regulations force lenders to charge for research, breaking apart a decades-old business model that’s prompted a race to provide the cheapest offering. “It will be challenging and it will be rocky” Andrea Orcel, head of UBS’s investment bank, said of the impact of the MiFID II directive in a …

Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s biggest bank, has chosen Amsterdam as a base for its investment-banking business in the European Union after the UK leaves the bloc. The firm’s securities unit has decided to apply for a license to establish a subsidiary in the Dutch city, it said in a statement on Wednesday. MUFG also plans to set …

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG has pledged to cap the amount of retail deposits it will use to support US activities as it seeks permission from European regulators to deploy German savers’ funds to other parts of the business, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The commitment is an attempt to reassure both the European Central Bank and German …

Bloomberg Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis, said developments in technology could see some 30 percent of banking jobs disappearing in the next five years. Artificial intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as back-office functions, Pandit, 60, said. He’s now chief executive officer of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he …

Bloomberg China’s yuan fixing is back in focus, with a run of surprises moving the market in recent days. The central bank set its reference rate—which limits onshore moves to 2 percent on either side—at a weaker than expected level for the third day in a row on Wednesday. The rates, and the removal of a reserve requirement rule on …

Bloomberg Reserve Bank of Australia board member Ian Harper said economic growth isn’t strong enough to justify an interest-rate increase and policy makers can do little but look on as the local dollar appreciates. While it’s “terrific” full-time employment growth is strong and unemployment is slowly coming down, it’s a “concern” to see under-employment isn’t moving much and wages and …

LONDON / Reuters The global oil surplus is beginning to shrink due to stronger-than-expected European and US demand growth, as well as production declines in OPEC and non-OPEC countries, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. The agency, which coordinates energy policies of industrial nations, raised its 2017 global oil demand growth estimate to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) …

KUWAIT / Reuters Kuwait’s Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Wednesday that OPEC could hold an extraordinary meeting in mid-March if oil producers did not reach a decision to extend their supply cut pact when it next meets in November. “In the coming November meeting, we may not reach a decision to extend… the agreement and we could hold an …

Bloomberg Solar developers are suspending construction as the looming threat of US import tariffs has driven up prices and spurred hoarding, crimping panel supplies. “We’ve had roughly $500 million worth of work that we’ve had to put on hold,” said Scott Canada, who oversees renewable energy projects for McCarthy Building Cos. of St. Louis. “The supply of panels has just …