Business

Ireland looks for a big bank 02 Mar 2014 - 01:18 am

DUBLIN: Ireland would like a “significant” new bank with a big balance sheet to enter its lending market this year to drive competition...

Gap Inc seeks new berth in China with Old Navy 02 Mar 2014 - 01:17 am

SHANGHAI: When Gap Inc began an online campaign ahead of the launch its Old Navy label in China, the iconic US clothes retailer...

US oil prices increase as Bakken crude shipments fall 02 Mar 2014 - 01:17 am

NEW YORK: US oil had its eighth straight week of gains on Friday on market talk of fewer oil rail shipments from the...

China manufacturing slows to 8-month low 02 Mar 2014 - 01:17 am

BEIJING: China’s manufacturing growth fell to an eight-month low in February, official figures showed yesterday, in a further sign of the flagging strength...

European markets stable; Ukraine’s currency firms 01 Mar 2014 - 05:21 am

People walk past a board of an exchange counter in central Kiev yesterday. LONDON: Europe’s main stock markets closed stable or moderately higher...

World’s first Bitcoin shop opens 01 Mar 2014 - 05:21 am

Promotion girls pose during the opening ceremony of the first bitcoin retail shop in Hong Kong yesterday. HONG KONG: A shop selling the...

Japan’s core CPI rises 01 Mar 2014 - 05:20 am

A staff checks clothes at a store in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food prices but includes...

UK public debt to rise by over £100bn 01 Mar 2014 - 05:18 am

LONDON: The official measure of Britain’s trillion-pound government debt will rise by more than £100bn ($167bn) in September, as part of a major...

Crackdown on shares fraud yields 110 arrests in Europe, US 01 Mar 2014 - 05:17 am

LONDON: Anti-fraud police have arrested 110 people in Europe and the United States in an international crackdown on gangs selling bogus shares that...

US economy grew 2.4pc in fourth quarter 01 Mar 2014 - 05:17 am

WASHINGTON: The US economy grew more slowly late last year than previously thought, but there was enough vigour that the Federal Reserve will...

India clocks tepid 4.7pc growth 01 Mar 2014 - 05:16 am

NEW DELHI: India’s economy grew by a sluggish 4.7 percent in the last quarter of 2013, data showed yesterday, marking more bad news...

China’s yuan at eight-month low against dollar 01 Mar 2014 - 05:15 am

SHANGHAI: China’s yuan currency fell nearly one percent against the US dollar in intra-day trade yesterday, its biggest drop in years, before recovering...

Opec oil production rises in February 01 Mar 2014 - 04:42 am

LONDON: Opec’s oil output has risen further in February from December’s two-and-a-half-year low, due to more shipments from Iraq and Angola, and further...

QE index drops 100.57 points last week; MPHC dips 28 Feb 2014 - 06:26 am

Doha: Qatar Exchange (QE) index dropped 100.57 points, 0.85 percent, last week when trading closed at 11,771.83 points yesterday. The trading value of...

A driver-less taxi 28 Feb 2014 - 06:25 am

Spanish Vicomtech-IK4 research centre’s Director of Transport Smart Systems Dept, Oihana Otaegui (left), and M3 Systems’ Delegate Olivier Desefans on Taxisat, a driver-less...

Standard Life against split 28 Feb 2014 - 06:20 am

Workers leave the Standard Life House in Edinburgh, Scotland, yesterday. The insurance and pension heavyweight said it could move partly out of Scotland...

Egypt central bank keeps key rates on hold to boost growth 28 Feb 2014 - 06:18 am

CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank left official interest rates on hold yesterday, as it tries to stimulate an economy hurt by three years of...

Sony to close 20 US retail stores 28 Feb 2014 - 06:18 am

WASHINGTON: Sony is closing 20 US retail stores as part of the streamlining of the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant. The company said...