Following a rally in Middle Eastern equity markets, driven by hikes in oil prices and the Dubai World’s debt restructuring, several bourses are up against key technical resistance. With momentum indicators, such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) looking firmly overbought, I believe that a near-term correction is increasingly likely in Dubai, Saudi and Qatari… [Read more]
Barely a month since sweltering temperatures and rampaging wildfires finally ceased plaguing Moscow, things are starting to heat up again in the Russian capital. Yury Luzhkov, mayor of the city for the past 18 years, and widely regarded as the country’s third most powerful politician, is engaged in a very public spat with President Dmitry… [Read more]
On this week’s Business Monitor Podcast we are joined by Lisa Lewin, Head of Africa Analysis, to hear about her ‘on the ground’ impressions after returning from a trip to Kenya. A burgeoning middle class and growing trade integration among East African nations suggest that several sectors stand to benefit from the highly attractive economic… [Read more]
Japan’s Finance Ministry finally capitulated on September 15, announcing intervention in the currency market for the first time in six years in a bid to temper yen strength. The quick-fire announcement followed the victory of incumbent Prime Minister Naoto Kan a day earlier in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan leadership contest. Clearly, then, the… [Read more]
Private Equity (PE) funds are best known for their buyout activity, but the tables appear to have turned somewhat of late. Indeed at present, it is PE asset sales that are busy grabbing the headlines. In an unprecedented trend, buyout exits from portfolio companies have more than tripled y-o-y, helping PE asset sales to outstrip… [Read more]
President Barack Obama’s announcement of a US$50bn transport infrastructure plan on September 6 must be viewed in the political context in which it was unveiled, namely the run-up to the November mid-term elections. The potential for the plan to be approved by Congress is small, especially considering public and political consensus against increasing the public… [Read more]
At first glance, the link between rising wheat prices and the state of telecoms infrastructure is hard to see, to the casual observer. However, Mozambique provides an opportunity to look at these two – usually unrelated – industries. Protests against a hike in bread prices in Mozambique were organised via SMS messaging on mobile phones…. [Read more]
