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Business Recorder
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Yuan near 8-month high
SHANGHAI: The yuan held steady against the US dollar on Wednesday, trading near an eight-month high hit in the previous session, underpinned by weakness in the greenback and hopes for an easing of US-China trade tensions. The spot yuan opened at 7.1652 per dollar and was last trading at 7.1658 as of 0250 GMT, 8 pips lower than the previous late session close, and 0.16% weaker than the midpoint. 'We expect the Chinese yuan to continue its gradual appreciation against the US dollar, potentially reaching 7.1 by year-end and 7.00 by mid-2026, assuming the tariff truce holds and the dollar continues to weaken,' analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office said in a note. 'The main risk to our outlook is a breakdown in trade negotiations,' they said, adding that broad dollar weakness should help limit down in the yuan.
Business Recorder
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Yuan near 8-month high on support from softer dollar, hopes for easing trade tensions
SHANGHAI: The yuan held steady against the US dollar on Wednesday, trading near an eight-month high hit in the previous session, underpinned by weakness in the greenback and hopes for an easing of US-China trade tensions. The spot yuan opened at 7.1652 per dollar and was last trading at 7.1658 as of 0250 GMT, 8 pips lower than the previous late session close, and 0.16% weaker than the midpoint. 'We expect the Chinese yuan to continue its gradual appreciation against the US dollar, potentially reaching 7.1 by year-end and 7.00 by mid-2026, assuming the tariff truce holds and the dollar continues to weaken,' analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office said in a note. 'The main risk to our outlook is a breakdown in trade negotiations,' they said, adding that broad dollar weakness should help limit down in the yuan. The yuan is 1.9% firmer this year against the dollar. The Chinese yuan has drawn support over the past two months from signs of easing trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Ahead of the market opening, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 7.1546 per dollar, 77 pips firmer than a Reuters' estimate. The spot yuan is allowed to trade 2% either side of the fixed midpoint each day. Based on Wednesday's official midpoint setting, the yuan's trade-weighted value against its basket of currencies, as measured by the CFETS yuan basket index, fell to 95.09, the lowest level since January 4, 2021. The US dollar hovered near 3 1/2-year lows as investors weighed the prospect of US interest rate cuts and the scramble for trade deals ahead of President Donald Trump's July 9 deadline for tariffs. 'We don't expect the RMB to appreciate significantly given persistent deflationary pressures and need to keep monetary policy accommodative,' said Morgan Stanley analysts. 'Pursuing currency appreciation on its own would exacerbate deflation, might be insufficient to secure a trade deal, and wouldn't bring sustainable rebalancing.' The offshore yuan traded at 7.1637 yuan per dollar, down about 0.04% in Asian trade. Hong Kong's de facto central bank said on Wednesday it sold $2.25 billion against the Hong Kong dollar after it hit the weak end of its trading band.
Khaleej Times
17-02-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE stock market cap expected to increase by Dh1 trillion in 4 years
The UAE stock market capitalisation is expected to grow by Dh1 trillion over the next four years, driven by new initial public offerings (IPOs) which will hit the Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses from the government and private sector entities, analysts said. 'In the last four years, almost Dh1 trillion has been added to the UAE market cap through the new IPOs. Over the next four years, we see UAE markets possibly adding the same because the UAE is now playing catch up with a combination of government entities along with private sector companies coming to IPO with the broadening of the sectors,' Anita Krishna Gupta, consultant equity strategy, Chief Investment Office, Wealth Management, Emirates NBD Bank, told Khaleej Times in an interview on Monday. Gupta said the UAE is ranked 15th globally in terms of market cap. She added that government and stock markets are encouraging private companies to sell their shares and list on the local markets. IPO market same as last year Analysts at Emirates NBD expect the IPO market will match last year's performance. Dubai government has announced that it will float 10 entities on the Dubai Financial Market in order to push market capitalisation of the local market to Dh3 trillion. The UAE has seen a good number of public and private sector companies tapping the local markets to raise funds for growth and expansion. In 2024, six out of the 10 largest IPOs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region were from the UAE, led by Talabat ($2 billion), Lulu Retail ($1.72 billion), NMDC Energy ($877 million), Alef Education ($515 million), Parkin ($429 million) and Spinneys 1961 Holding ($375 million). IT firm Alpha Data was the first firm to announce its intention to go public in 2025, floating a 40 per cent equity stake on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. All the IPO have seen strong demand as they were oversubscribed multiple times, reflecting a strong appetite for IPOs in the UAE among retail and institutional investors. Gupta sees some interesting IPOs from the real estate and technology front will be floated this year on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses. 'We are expecting more government entities from Dubai to come to the market. And again, in Abu Dhabi, we are expecting more on the technology front. So 2025 is going to probably match IPO issuances of 2024, which was a stellar year for IPO issues.' UAE – a dividend haven She added that the UAE has been a 'dividend heaven' as the listed firms paid out their shareholders very well. 'The UAE market is also a dividend-driven story…. Some of the best-performing names in the last couple of years have seen a competitive increase in dividends, including Emaar Group's increased dividends has done extremely well,' she added. The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) reported that public joint-stock companies in the UAE distributed a total of Dh61.73 billion in cash dividends and bonus shares during 2023.
