CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s current account turned a surplus for the first time in years in the October-to-December quarter as imports dropped and exports rose, the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Egypt imposed import restrictions during most of 2022 and continues to suffer an acute shortage of foreign currency. The current account…
By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) -Wary of re-igniting Iran’s worst political turmoil in years, the country’s rulers are resorting to new, less obtrusive tactics to punish women who refuse to wear the obligatory Islamic hijab. The methods, introduced following nationwide anti-government protests last year, combine use of security cameras with denial of state services to…
MILAN (Reuters) – UniCredit on Wednesday raised its financial targets for the year, after posting much stronger than expected first quarter earnings. Solid results by Italy’s only bank that regulators deem of global systemic relevance are the latest evidence of strength for a sector where a string of failures this year has shaken investors’ confidence….
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German airline group Deutsche Lufthansa said it expected strong demand for holiday travel this summer to fill seats on its planes and help it reach its full-year targets. “The continuously strong demand gives us confidence for the coming months,” finance chief Remco Steenbergen said on Wednesday. Lufthansa said it still expects to post…
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s headline inflation dropped to its lowest in 16 months in April thanks to lower energy and food prices and a high base in 2022, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday. The headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.67% in April from a year earlier, close to a rise of 2.70% forecast…
DUBAI (Reuters) – Economic growth in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia regions will slow in 2023, underlining the need to accelerate structural reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday. Real GDP growth in the Middle East and Central Asia is forecast to fall to 2.9% in 2023, from 5.3% last…
By Lewis Krauskopf, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Laura Matthews NEW YORK (Reuters) – The calm that has prevailed in the U.S. equity market may be starting to snap, as a range of worries bolster the case for investors looking to take profits on a rally that has seen the S&P 500 gain more than 7%…
By Anant Chandak BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s services activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly 13 years in April, driven by robust demand, according to a private survey which also showed price pressures increased at their fastest rate in recent months. Strong growth in services, which make up around 60% of India’s overall gross…
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank said on Wednesday that a rapid recovery in population growth was a big surprise for the bank’s economic forecasts, pushing up rents and leading to an earlier-than-expected stabilisation in housing prices after months of losses. Speaking at an event in Perth, Marion Kohler, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA)…
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Ankur Banerjee For the second time this year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will take the stage in the wake of a bank failure (that’s three in the US for those keeping count: SVB, Signature Bank and First Republic) and as worries over the…
