The summit will provide a platform for foreign investors, African companies, and regulators to meet, discuss relevant issues, and form relationships. East Africa has a strong potential to develop Islamic Finance because of the high demand for its services and products.
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Foreign investors bail on Russian stocks
Global investors are withdrawing from Russian stock markets as volatility is high in equities and currency Ruble. The continuous drop in oil price is impacting the Russian economy much as it's the main revenue source for the country. The gap between onshore and offshore traded equities is narrowing down as foreign investors are selling off.
Philippine Q4 GDP rise by 6.3%
Philippine's fourth quarter gross domestic product increased by 6.3% driven mainly by higher private consumption, government expenditure as well as an increase in economic activity.
Iowa Fast Foods Workers’ Strike On The Day of Republican Debate Possibly To Embarrass President Hopefuls
The Republican Debate is going to be held in Iowa State on Thursday. The fast food workers under the banner of ‘$15 per hour minimum wage movement’ have called strike on the very day apparently due to gain media attraction. The strike has been called demanding immediate implementation of the said minimum wage rate across the country and union rights. However, the demands have already been supported by many Democratic candidates and furnished in their election manifesto.
Pound gains as UK economy grows in Q4
The British Pound strengthened against major global currencies after a report on UK's GDP growth. The report said that UK's economy speeded up during the fourth quarter of 2015. The rise in consumer demand helped the economy expansion. The British Pound recovered from the two-week low of 1.4338 against the US dollar to at $1.4314.
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Wendy's, the famous fast-food chain is the latest victim of credit card data breach. The company's banking sources detected unusual patterns on customer credit cards right after they were used at a Wendy's outlet, and informed the company right-away. It immediately hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate the fraudulent activities that seem to have been tracked to Midwest and, lately, the East Coast. The investigation is currently ongoing and Wendy's did not provide any clear information on the findings.
Malaysia has trimmed its growth forecast mainly due to plunging oil prices. A miscalculated assumption has messed up the 2016 budget, which has the government groping for damage-control measures. One of the key outcomes were increasing the household spending of the country, which can give the sluggish economy a much-needed boost.
Boeing To Reduce Production In 2016, Orders For 6000 Aircraft By No Means Indicate Decaying Business
Boeing has announced reducing production during 2016. The news has caused US Aerospace Share prices to go down by 9% on Wednesday, which has regained a little on Thursday. The production cut is not due to tattering financial condition of the aircraft manufacturer, but it is related to a transforming strategy. Still the manufacturer holds orders for delivery of around 6,000 aircraft, which represents a different tale.
Aedes mosquitoes are the bearer of Zika virus which is available across the US. WHO warns the US for a probable Zika virus induced epidemic. Brazil has appeared as the most Zika affected country. The US and other governments have issued a travel alert for the pregnant women forbidding to visit the Zika prone region. The travel alert has offbeat the organizers of the Rio de Janeiro olympic scheduled to be held in August.
Movidius, a chip maker, working on neural network technology has announced collaborations with Google on Thursday. Under the partnership agreement, Google will arrange license for some low power chips of Movidius. In return, the search engine provider will be able to use the machine learning and computer visioning technologies to its mobile devices. Computer visioning capabilities will enable users to experience low latency on their mobile devices.
Gold soared to three-month high early this week as investors switched over to safe have following the concerns about the global economy. The US Federal Reserve indicated a challenging global economy and this may not prevent it from raising interest rate. Gold price reached to $1,127.80 on 27 January and this propelled investors to book profits.
The average gasoline price fell to seven year low and is hovering at $1.91 per gallon in the US. If crude oil price continues to move upwards, then the gas price fall may rebound in the near future. According to AAA, the average may not go above $3 a gallon in 2016. Gasoline price fell 14 cents during the past two weeks.
The US housing market was boosted at the end of the year 2015 that marked the best year for existing and fresh home sales since 2007. Nearly 501,000 fresh homes were sold the previous year, an increase of 14.5% from 2014.
President Obama has rolled out a new set of regulations that lifts the Cuban trade embargo to a certain extent. The relaxed rules allow easy facilitation of trade, travel and finance between the two governments, a move taken to end the age-old cold war between them. While the embargo cannot be lifted completely unless Congress gives their consent, the Obama administration is convinced that this is a step in the right direction for improving the condition of the island.
