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Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s stock market opened after a seven-week trading halt only to shutter within minutes following a more than 10% drop in a gauge of blue chip shares, highlighting the risks of a long hiatus. The benchmark Colombo All Share Index settled 3.9% lower at 4,392.43 after a slide at the open in a measure of the nation’s top …

ROME / WAM David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has expressed his gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for his relentless efforts to fight disease and hunger across the world. ”Thanks to my good friend @MohamedBinZayed….. . …

Dubai / Emirates Business The Emirates Group on Sunday announced its 32nd consecutive year of profit, against a drop in revenue mainly attributed to reduced operations during the planned DXB runway closure in the first quarter, and the impact of flight and travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the fourth quarter. Released in its 2019-20 annual report, the …

ABU DHABI / WAM Two organisations from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have joined forces to launch a media project in support of People of Determination on social media platforms. The Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination and the King Salman Centre for Disability Research on Sunday announced the campaign, ‘To Be Closer to You’, aims to activate dialogue between …

Bloomberg Governments have devoted more than $85 billion to propping up airlines after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out travel demand and grounded jetliner fleets. But with job cuts racking up, a debate is raging over whether opening the spigot will do more than merely delay the inevitable. Global air traffic may only get back to 50% to 60% of usual …

Bloomberg Petroleos Mexicanos’s trading arm PMI has declared a force majeure on some fuel cargoes, deferring other cargoes until later in the year, after measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak pummeled demand. Some fuel deliveries are being postponed until the second half of the year, according to people familiar with the situation. More than 70 tankers were waiting to unload …

Bloomberg Ghana’s government directed Eni SpA to start talks on combining its deposit at an offshore field with a neighbouring explorer, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. The Italian major, which operates the Sankofa Oil and Gas fields in a venture with Vitol Holding, has 120 days to conclude a draft so-called unitisation and operating agreement with Springfield Exploration …

Bloomberg In their latest feat of levitation, US stocks are about to pull off their biggest earnings-season rally in six years. Impressive — or ridiculous, depending on your view — considering it happened as American companies were reporting a 16% profit drop that was the worst since the financial crisis. Since firms started disclosing results, the S&P 500 has jumped …

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) US equity portfolio declined in value for the first time in more than a year, reflecting the market rout caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The central bank, which has amassed vast holdings of foreign currency due to interventions to weaken the franc, had $94 billion invested in US stocks at the end of March, …

Bloomberg After weeks of wondering how corporate Canada fared in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, investors finally got a proper look under the hood. Senior executives spoke about the impact. Some described the future as too hard to predict. Others tried to identify parallels and differences with the financial crisis. By withdrawing their 2020 forecasts, many Canadian companies …