The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  The trigger of Article 50 is the event traders have been waiting for since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. Yet as Prime Minister Theresa May approaches her end-March deadline for launching Brexit, there is no consensus on what it means for markets. The pound has slumped 18 percent and the country’s benchmark equities index has rallied ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Speculation over a possible merger between Dubai-based Shuaa Capital and Bahrain’s GFH Financial spurred heavy turnover in their shares on Monday, while the banking and insurance sectors dragged the Saudi Arabian stock index lower. Shuaa climbed 3.2 percent to a seven-year closing high of 1.93 dirhams, bringing its gains to 18.4 percent since Sunday. The Dubai-listed ...

  Bloomberg For sale: stakes in oil fields. Bids from world class energy companies preferred. Pipelines and terminals associated with the deposits only blown up about a dozen times in the past year. Deal may depend on crude prices. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s government on March 7 proposed a plan to jump start the economy by, among other things, selling ...

  Bloomberg The future of the Canadian oil sands is looking a lot more Canadian. Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said it will spend C$12.7 billion ($9.4 billion), its biggest purchase ever, to buy Alberta oil fields and facilities that process the sticky bitumen from oil sands from Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Marathon Oil Corp. “At the time you ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s crude output dropped 11 percent as clashes among rival armed groups over the last 11 days led to the closing of some of the OPEC nation’s biggest oil export terminals, forcing a number of fields to halt production. Output fell by about 80,000 barrels a day to 620, 000 barrels since fighting among armed groups broke out ...

  Bloomberg Oil steadied below $49 a barrel as US drillers continued to boost activity, countering OPEC’s efforts to drain a global glut. Futures were little changed in New York after falling 9.1 percent last week, the biggest weekly loss since November. Rigs targeting crude in the US rose to the most since September 2015, according to Baker Hughes Inc. ...

  Bloomberg The price European utilities pay for their natural gas is on a tear. Rates for Russian fuel at the German border last month jumped the most in seven years, extending their gain since September to almost 50 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. The price of fuel from Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC may increase further even as prices ...

  Bloomberg Australia is pinning its hopes on sugar to revitalize exports to Indonesia, as it seeks momentum for a free trade agreement that has been mooted for nearly a decade. With two-way trade at its lowest since 2009, Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo hailed a recent deal to reduce sugar tariffs from 8 percent to 5 percent, bringing the ...

  Bloomberg China’s Qingdao Doublestar Co. said it has signed an agreement with Kumho Tire creditors to buy a 42 percent stake in the South Korean tiremaker in a deal that could enable Doublestar to further expand in China. The deal, worth 955 billion won, or about $830 million, could help turn Doublestar into China’s largest tiremaker if it can ...

  Bloomberg Whether you look at prices or policy, the property markets in Singapore and Hong Kong are marching resolutely in opposite directions. Singapore has eased some rules in its property market, after more than three years of home price declines. Hong Kong in November tightened some restrictions, after prices rallied following a short-lived dip last year. The curbs in ...