The fundamental credit outlook for the Kuwaiti banking system remains negative, although implementation of the government's four-year development plan could stimulate the weakened operating environment of the small and undiversified non-oil private sector, Moody's Investors Service said in its new Banking System Outlook. The Kuwaiti state remains affluent, but Moody's cautioned that the emirate's economy
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Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the foreign currency deposit ratings of Samba Financial Group, Banque Saudi Fransi and Saudi British Bank to Aa3 from A1 (positive). The foreign currency deposit ratings of these three Saudi Arabian banks are now at the same level and no longer constrained by the country ceiling for such deposits. The
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Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Saudi Arabia's foreign and local currency government ratings to Aa3 from A1 and the country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits to Aa3 from A1. The country ceiling for foreign currency bonds, the local currency ceiling for bonds and the local currency bank deposit ceiling were confirmed at Aa3. The
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European equities advanced for a third straight session to a two-week high on Wednesday as forecast-beating results from BNP Paribas helped banks and stronger commodity prices supported mining and energy shares. Charts pointed to further gains in the near term and risk appetite grew as soothing results from banks such as Barclays, Credit Suisse and
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All nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted this month not to expand the central bank's quantitative easing policy — dashing expectations that at least one might have called for more asset purchases. Minutes of the MPC's Feb. 3-4 meeting also showed a unanimous vote in favour of leaving interest rates
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The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefit rose unexpectedly in January and by the biggest amount since July last year, official data showed on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said claimant count unemployment rose by 23,500 last month, wrongfooting analysts who had forecast a 10,000 fall. That wiped out the declines seen in the
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World stocks rose on Wednesday and the euro kept the previous day's sharp gains as strong earnings from both sides of the Atlantic shifted focus away from concerns about the euro zone debt crisis. French bank BNP Paribas rose more than 3 percent after it took fewer bad debt provisions than expected in the fourth
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The smartphone market will continue to boom this year as handset vendors roll out new, cheaper models and cut prices of the older phones — making them more attractive to a mass-market audience. First Symbian smartphones with unsubsidized prices of 100 euros ($137) will reach the market this year, the chief of the world's most
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The smartphone market will continue to boom this year as handset vendors roll out new, cheaper models and cut prices of the older phones — making them more attractive to a mass-market audience. First Symbian smartphones with unsubsidised prices of 100 euros ($137) will reach the market this year, the chief of the world's most
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin played down Greece's economic woes on Tuesday, telling his visiting Greek counterpart that the United States were no better than Greece in handling its debt and fiscal deficit. "As we all know, the global economic crisis started neither in Greece, nor in Russia, nor in Europe," Putin told a news
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