Bloomberg It’s time to start loading up on “cheap” yen. Using options to bet on gains for Japan’s currency is a smart wager for 2019, according to Societe Generale. The yen reached its weakest since early October, before recovering as concern over China’s economy fuelled declines in global equities and eroded risk appetite. The yen traded at 113.85 per dollar ...

Bloomberg China’s biggest banks dragged down the stock market as investors took a dim view of the government’s unprecedented move to tell firms exactly how much they must lend to the country’s struggling private sector. At least a third of new loans should go to non-state companies, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said. Private ...

Bloomberg The man poised to become chairman of Danske Bank A/S is aware that the task ahead is huge. If elected to the post this month, Karsten Dybvad says he and the board will spend the “coming years” trying to “restore confidence in the bank.” The 62-year-old trained economist has been handpicked by Danske’s biggest shareholder, A.P. Moller Holding A/S. ...

Bloomberg Spanish banks were hit for the second time in a week after the Mexican government proposed scrapping certain bank commissions, including ATM withdrawal fees. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA plummeted as much as 7 percent, the biggest intraday drop in two years. The lender was down 5.7 percent as of 4:25 pm in Madrid trading, the largest decliner in ...

DUBAI / WAM The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), in collaboration with Stargems Group, announced the completion of six successful rough diamond tenders of SACIM goods (Anhui-Congo Mining Investment Company) with over two million carats auctioned. The tenders were held at Almas Tower with around 200 diamond companies in attendance and facilitated by Dubai Diamond Exchange, a subsidiary of DMCC. Earlier ...

ABU DHABI / WAM President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a federal law, authori- sing UAE Cabinet to grant temporary licenses for tes-ting and vetting of innovations that utilise future tech and its applications such artificial intelligence (AI). The study towards developing new legislations will begin with launch of RegLab in January 2019. RegLabwill be largest lab ...

SHANGHAI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced, on Saturday, it has concluded a new long-term liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales agreement with Wanhua Chemical Group of China. Under the terms of the 10-year contract, Wanhua will purchase up to 1 million metric tonnes of LPG per annum. The agreement, which was signed by Abdulla Salem Al ...

WARSAW / WAM Prospects of propelling economic cooperation between the UAE and Poland were the main topic of discussions as Mohammed Sharaf Al Hashemi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Inter-national Cooperation for Economic and Commercial Affairs, met Deputy Minister for Polish Diplomacy, Maciej Lang, in in Warsaw. “There are promising pros-pects of intensifying cooperation between two sides,” said Al ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih agreed in a meeting in Baghdad on joint coordination with Iraq to achieve more stability in the oil market, Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said by phone. Al-Falih flew into Baghdad for a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi ahead of talks between Opec and its allies in Abu Dhabi ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) awarded contract worth AED288 million to construct two rectangular, reinforced, concrete 60-million-gallon reservoirs in Al Nakhali. This will hold 120 million gallons of desalinated water to increase Dubai’s storage capacity to 1,010 million gallons. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa, said, “This project supports directives of HH Sheikh ...