The Northern Emirates will remain an affordable alternative for mid-income earners with apartment rental rates softening by 1 to 8% each quarter throughout 2017, an average quarterly decline of 4%, according to the latest report from real estate consultancy Asteco.
Worldwide growth combined with rising inflation expectations have supported demand for commodities so far this year. The broad-based Bloomberg Commodity Commodity Index trades higher by 1.5% year-to-date with its 36% exposure to the agriculture sector acting as a drag.
Currencies
Pair near strong weekly resistance
EUR/USD pair has been rallying extensively over the past few weeks, and even the aggressive comeback by US dollar didn’t seem to reflect much in this pair as it did in other currency pairs. However, that seems to be in corrected in the week ahead, as the pair is in close ranges to a 2008 trend line resistance. On the US front, the US economy added 200K jobs in January and more importantly, saw wages rise by 2.9% y/y, in what seems like a more sustainable acceleration in pay. This sent the dollar higher after a week that saw it struggling to recover. On the week ahead, we have US ISM Manufacturing PMI, which stood at the levels of 55.9 in December. A rise to 56.5 is expected, which if reached will indicate string economy and growth, which could burden EUR/USD.
A stronger than expected US jobs report, drove interest rates higher, and equity markets lower at the end of last week. Oil prices also joined the negative move at the end of the week, mainly affected by the rise in oil production in the US, to end the week at USD68.58 per barrel, down by -2.2% W-o-W.
ActivTrades PLC, the premium global regulated broker dealing in Foreign Exchange and Contracts for Difference (CFDs), is pleased to announce two new public seminars in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, entitled “An Introduction to Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies”.
According to a new report, issued ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, recent reforms in Saudi Arabia – not to mention widespread investment in the Kingdom’s burgeoning tourism industry – will drive growth in the hospitality market of 13.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), higher than the established markets of the UAE (10.1%) and Oman (11.8%).
