Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Oil prices were steady on Monday after recording their largest seven-day gain in a month last week on supply risks from the Israel-Gaza war.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, was trading 1.19 per cent lower at $89.81 a barrel at 7.53pm UAE time while West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, was down 0.95 per cent at $86.86 a barrel.
“The coming week will see energy traders continue to pay close attention to the Israel-Hamas war [and] key Chinese economic data,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
China’s third-quarter gross domestic product is expected to show the economy is “headed in the right direction”, Mr Moya said.
On Monday, the country’s central bank ramped up liquidity support to the banking system, as part of its efforts to support its economy, the world’s second largest.
The People's Bank of China conducted medium-term lending facility operations worth 789 billion yuan ($109.57 billion) to keep liquidity in the banking system adequate.
The rate on one-year policy loans was held at 2.5 per cent, unchanged from the previous operation.
China’s post-coronavirus economic recovery has lost momentum mainly due to a deepening property slump and weak consumer spending.
It has announced a string of stimulus measures, including halving stamp duty on stock transactions and easing mortgage rates.
On the supply side, traders are concerned about the Israel-Hamas war escalating into a broader regional conflict, potentially affecting crude supplies in an already tight market.
Israel is preparing for a ground offensive into Gaza and has warned about 1.1 million people in the northern half of the strip to evacuate.
Saudi Arabia and Russia have reaffirmed their combined supply cut of 1.3 million barrels per day up to the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the Opec+ alliance has enforced total production curbs of 3.66 million bpd, or about 3.7 per cent of global demand.
“The sharp sell-off in crude prices in early October has reinforced Saudi Arabia’s caution about unwinding its voluntary production cuts,” Energy Aspects said in a research note last week.
“We expect these to remain in place until year-end, as announced, and still see the potential they will be extended further into early 2024 to limit seasonal stock builds,” the data and intelligence provider said.
“We do not think Iranian oil production or exports are at risk of disruption due to the Israel-Hamas conflict.”
Last week, Opec stuck to its forecast for oil demand growth for 2023 and 2024 and said it expected the global economy to grow at a faster pace this year.
World oil demand will rise by 2.25 million bpd in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million bpd this year, the group said in its monthly oil market report.
However, the International Energy Agency slashed its oil demand growth forecast for next year, citing a “deteriorating economic climate”.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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Name: Yousef Al Bahar
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
RACE CARD
6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200
7.05pm Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
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The National selections:
6.30pm Underwriter
7.05pm Rayig
7.40pm Torno Subito
8.15pm Talento Puma
8.50pm Etisalat
9.25pm Gundogdu
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
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Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
