March, 2017

• 1 March

  Markets diverge in low volumes, Qatar rebounds

    DUBAI / Reuters Trading volumes in Middle Eastern stocks were light on Wednesday, with relatively modest moves and regional markets taking different directions. Qatar’s index rebounded 0.5 percent after dropping 2.2 percent in the previous session. All but one of the six banks rose with Commercial Bank, the top gainer, jumping 2.3 percent. Abu Dhabi’s index added 0.4 percent ...

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• 1 March

  Investors ditching US stocks in favour of European peers

    Bloomberg Global equity investors who had shunned Europe for months are back, and at the expense of the US Since October, global funds have made a “significant rotation” out of US stocks into Europe excluding the UK and into Japanese equities, equity strategists at HSBC Holdings Plc wrote in a note. The shift comes as banks including Goldman Sachs ...

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• 1 March

  VietJet jumps 20% in trading debut as travel demand soars

  

    Bloomberg VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co. surged by the 20 percent daily limit in its trading debut on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, reflecting investor interest in Vietnam’s first mainboard-listed carrier as travel demand soars in the nation. The stock rose to 108,000 dong at the close of trading, valuing the low-cost carrier at 32.4 trillion dong ...

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• 1 March

  Wal-Mart upgrades app to add pharmacy refills, money transfers

  

    Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc., looking to lock in more customers with its mobile-phone app, is updating the software so it can be used to refill prescriptions and skip the line at the pharmacy counter. The upgrade also will let users sign off on medical forms and view prescription pricing on the application, Wal-Mart said. Once their pharmacy orders have ...

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• 1 March

  Oman’s new budget airline launches int’l flights

    Dubai / Emirates Business SalamAir, Oman’s first budget airline, expanded its network by introducing its first international destination, Dubai. The double daily service will operate from Muscat International Airport (MCT) to Dubai World Central (DWC) before moving to Dubai International Airport (DXB) is starting from March 26. SalamAir’s growing destination network was made possible with the arrival of the ...

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• 1 March

  United-Avianca deal becomes target of lawsuit

  

    Bloomberg Avianca Holdings SA’s chairman and controlling shareholder, German Efromovich, is forcing the Colombian airline into a potential deal with United Continental Holdings Inc. that will hurt minority investors, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. Kingsland Holdings, the second-biggest shareholder in Avianca, is suing the Bogota-based air carrier, Efromovich and Chicago-based United, saying they ...

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• 1 March

  Vodafone Kenya unit faces proposals for breakup

  

    Bloomberg A study of Kenya’s telecommunications industry proposes breaking up Safaricom Ltd., the country’s biggest company, according to brokerage AIB Capital Ltd. The report compiled by Analysis Mason proposes “a raft of measures supposed to level the telecommunications playing ground and tame Safaricom,” AIB Chairman Linus Gitahi said in an opinion article published Wednesday in the Nairobi-based Daily Nation ...

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• 1 March

  Citigroup in talks for Saudi return after exit in 2004

  

    Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is in advanced discussions for a banking license in Saudi Arabia, returning after a more than 10-year absence from the kingdom, as the bank looks for ways to capitalize on financial reforms, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based bank has started sounding out potential staff in expectation that the license application will ...

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• 1 March

  Saudi bank lending growth slows to lowest in 7 years

  

    Reuters Annual growth in Saudi Arabian bank lending slowed in January to its lowest level in nearly seven years, official data showed, a sign of weak corporate demand but also improving liquidity in the economy. Bank loans to the private sector rose just 1.8 percent from a year earlier, compared to 2.4 percent in December, the central bank said. ...

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• 1 March

  Bad loans at India bank worsens: SBI

    Bloomberg India’s weaker economic growth will lead to more soured loans, even after an audit of lenders’ books pushed stressed assets in the South Asian nation to the highest among major economies, according to the head of the country’s largest bank. “There could be a few more accounts that could start showing stress mainly because the kind of growth ...

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