Reuters Saudi Arabia’s equities index firmed on Wednesday because of strong oil prices while Qatar fell to its lowest close since January 2016 after index compiler FTSE’s mid-year review hurt some stocks. Brent oil was around $53.50 a barrel, slightly above its level when the Saudi market traded on Tuesday last week, just before it closed for long Eid al-Adha …

Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s silence on the future of quantitative easing is complicating a key aspect of the European Central Bank’s policy process. The ECB president and his colleagues typically back up shifts in strategy with their economic projections, which are based on market indicators that include expectations for future policy. Except that less than four months before the current asset-purchase …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan should stop being obsessed with its 2 percent inflation target given prices and interest rates around the world remain subdued, says the former currency chief at the Ministry of Finance. The world’s third-largest economy has recovered enough for the central bank to scale back stimulus policy to give itself some room to maneuver should conditions …

Bloomberg K. Balasubramanian, group head for corporate banking at HDFC Bank Ltd., is leaving India’s most valuable bank to return to his previous employer Citigroup Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Balasubramanian, 46, will join the corporate banking team as a Mumbai-based managing director for the New York-based lender, the people said. Representatives for both banks declined to …

Bloomberg A planned shake up of Australia’s consumer price index could result in a significant paring of inflation expectations. Westpac Banking Corp. economist Justin Smirk has run the numbers on how the statistics bureau could revise its inflation basket to bring it up to speed with the latest spending patterns and technological changes. Lower core inflation could keep benchmark rates …

Bloomberg A longtime Morgan Stanley broker and financial adviser pleaded not guilty to trading on secret tips about pending mergers and acquisitions leaked by a Bank of America Corp. consultant. Michael Siva, 55, got the information from a close friend, James Moodhe, whose daughter was dating the consultant at the centre of the case, Daniel Rivas, prosecutors said in an …

Bloomberg Two years after Chinese policy makers devalued the yuan, an act that torpedoed global markets, traders are starting to view the currency as a sure bet. The yuan has surged 3.9 percent to be the best performer in Asia this quarter, while momentum indicators are near the highest since 2005. Typical risk-off events seem only to heighten demand for …

Bloomberg Boeing Co. raised its 20-year forecast for aircraft demand in China as economic growth and an expanding middle class spur travel in the world’s most-populous nation. China will need 7,240 new planes valued at almost $1.1 trillion in the two decades through 2036, Boeing said Wednesday. That compares with its projections last September for 6,810 aircraft through 2035. The …

Bloomberg Airbus SE secured an order for 45 of its A350-900 jetliners from United Continental Holdings Inc., holding on to a critical win after a run of deferrals by US airlines for the European planemaker’s marquee wide-body plane. The deal, valued at $14 billion before customary discounts, is a conversion of an earlier order for 35 of Airbus’s bigger -1000 …

Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. has been found guilty of reckless lending after a South African regulator ruled that the continent’s largest supermarket chain hasn’t been properly assessing shoppers before extending credit. The retailer was fined 1 million rand ($77,425), the National Credit Regulator said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Among other discrepancies, the Cape Town-based company took into account …