Bloomberg The US dollar and Russia’s ruble advanced in thin trading on a day when most markets worldwide are closed for a holiday. Saudi Arabian shares declined for a third straight day, with volume at 30 percent below the gauge’s 30-day average. Turkish stocks rose to the highest level in about seven weeks on a closing basis, while equities in ...

Reuters Gulf stock markets were mostly quiet in moderate trading volumes on Monday as Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas jumped ahead of a court hearing on its effort to avoid redeeming $700 million of Islamic bonds. Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.3 percent as Dana jumped 13.2 percent; it was the market’s most heavily traded stock by far. A court in ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin is “concerned” about the possibility the US might further expand sanctions on Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where our bilateral relations, which are already in a rather pitiful state, could face even bigger and possibly unbearable risks and dangers,” Peskov told conference call on Monday. “We have concerns ...

Reuters A Bahraini military court sentenced six Shi’ite Muslim men to death and revoked their citizenship after they were convicted on charges of forming a terrorist cell and plotting to assassinate a military official, Bahrain news agency BNA reported on Monday. The men, including one soldier, were accused of several militant attacks and of attempting to assassinate a commander of ...

Reuters Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit Addis Ababa next week for talks with his Ethiopian counterpart, a foreign ministry spokesman said, in a bid to end a standoff over a multi-billion dollar dam project on the Nile river. The dispute, which also involves Sudan, centres on control of a share of the waters of the Nile that stretches ...

Bloomberg The United Nation’s latest sanctions on North Korea are more likely to hurt ordinary people in the isolated nation than slow Kim Jong-Un’s push to develop missiles capable of hitting the US with nuclear weapons. The UN Security Council unanimously approved new steps targeting North Korea’s economy following last month’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The new restrictions ...

Bloomberg Cyril Ramaphosa, the newly-elected leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, has a tenuous hold on power in the party after his allies fell short of securing outright control over its top leadership body. A lack of support from a clear majority of the 86 voting members of the ANC’s National Executive Committee will limit his scope to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s Christmas wishes include a peaceful America, he said while taking phone calls from children tracking the global travels of Santa’s sleigh — although the president’s social-media activities suggested otherwise. “I think we want peace. What do you think? Peace for the country,” Trump told a young boy. “We’ve got prosperity. Now we want peace,” the president ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. expects to take a roughly $3 billion hit to fourth-quarter net income after the US tax bill slashed corporate rates. The reduction is “primarily” from a lower value of net deferred tax assets, according to a filing by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm. So-called DTAs pile up in cases where a company loses money and ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank bought a 90 percent stake in Landqart AG, bailing out the sole producer of the material on which its paper money is printed. The acquisition is aimed at saving Landqart, which the SNB said was facing a liquidity shortage and a “direct and existential threat.” The central bank also said the move ensures “continued supply ...