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Hong Kong / AFP Asian stocks mostly slumped on Wednesday as sentiment was dragged down by a renewed drop in oil prices and a resurgent yen sucked the air out of the Japanese market. Crude weakened after Iran’s oil minister called a proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze production “ridiculous”, as it seeks to boost output after years ...

New York / AFP US stocks tumbled, with energy-related equities dropping on lower oil prices and large banks falling on worries over bad energy loans. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 188.88 points (1.14 percent) to 16,431.78. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 24.23 (1.25 percent) to 1,921.27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 67.02 (1.47 percent) to 4,503.58. Oil ...

AFP UK-based construction and support services company Interserve has reported positive results from its construction activities in the GCC region. “Volumes are up, margins are steady, and order book is growing,” says Adrian Ringrose, CEO, Interserve speaking at the company’s half year results briefing on 24 February. “We are busy in in the region,” says Ringrose. “In terms of manpower ...

Atlanta / Bloomberg Home Depot Inc. posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and projected that its robust sales growth would continue this year, with consumers showing no signs of pulling back on renovations and projects. Profit in the quarter through Jan. 31 rose to $1.17 a share, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts estimated $1.10, on ...

DUBAI / WAM Governments around the world need to urgently remedy the issues of access to finance, education and legal system for women, according to Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Opening the keynote panel discussion at the Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2016 on Tuesday, the IMF chief said, “Rules need to be changed. Three things ...

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, Empower, has recorded a net profit of AED516 million for fiscal year ended December 2015, representing an impressive 27% increase over 2014. Total revenues for the year reached AED 1.66 billion, a 12% increase YoY. “Empower achieved an annual increase of 6.7% in its cooling capacity, to pass it over 1,115,000 Refrigeration ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai Business Events (DBE) Dubai’s official convention bureau, has welcomed 85 guests from Europe, including 70 hosted buyers and a further 15 of Europe’s leading media experts from the business events industry, to showcase the city’s world class meetings, incentives, conferences and event capabilities. Western Europe is a vital market for Dubai, and in 2015 it remained ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE Minister of Economy, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, on Tuesday met Russian Minister of Agriculture, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Tkachev, on the sidelines of the Gulfood 2016, a major food and hospitality trade event in the region. The UAE imports around 80 percent of its food needs, a major challenge that the UAE is working to ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The 20th World Registry Law Congress 2016’ global conference, which is aptly titled ‘CINDER Dubai 2016,’ continues on a strong note for its second day in a row. Organized by the Dubai Land Department in collaboration with the International Property Registries Association (IPRA-CINDER), the conference’s activities are geared towards facilitating discussions around trending topics such as ...

London / AFP The bosses of more than a third of Britain’s top companies on Tuesday urged voters to keep the country in the European Union, warning that a ‘Brexit’ would threaten jobs. Some 198 business leaders including Roger Carr, chairman of BAE Systems, BP CEO Bob Dudley and Ron Dennis, chief of F1 team McLaren, wrote a joint letter ...