The euro crawled off a 6-1/2-month low against the dollar on Monday after Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella tried to address investor worries about political unrest in the country. Fabio Frustaci / EPA
The euro crawled off a 6-1/2-month low against the dollar on Monday after Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella tried to address investor worries about political unrest in the country. Fabio Frustaci / Show more

Euro recovers as Italy tries to address investor concerns



The euro crawled off a six-and-a-half month low against the dollar on Monday, catching its breath after Italy’s president tried to allay investor worries about political unrest in the country, although the prospect of a near-term election capped gains.

The euro was 0.45 per cent higher at $1.1703 after falling on Friday to $1.1646, its lowest since mid-November, losing more than 1 per cent on the week.

The common currency was up 0.45 per cent at 128.065 yen after sinking on Friday to an 11-month low of 127.165.

The euro was seen to have received a mild lift after Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday rejected Paolo Savona, a vocal critic of the single currency, as the economy minister. The two populist parties attempting to form a coalition in Italy had pushed for Savona to be appointed to the pivotal role.

But the euro’s bounce was limited as an early election in Italy looked inevitable as the far-right League and anti-establishment 5-Star Movement abandoned plans to forge an alliance after their choice of economy minister was vetoed.

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“The League and 5-Star Movement parties could expand their influence even further if a re-election is called, and Italian politics will remain unstable,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.

“The euro zone also faces low inflation and slowing growth, limiting the euro’s rise and leaving it vulnerable to fresh downside risks.”

Adding to the unrest in Europe, Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was threatened with no-confidence motions and demands for a snap election.

“The euro has managed to bounce, going through a bit of a consolidation. But fundamentally, it is still a ‘sell’ for the currency,” said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.

“Euro zone economic fundamentals are the trunk and the region’s political woes are the protruding branches, and both are facing headwinds right now.”

Data last week showed German PMI data fell to a 20-month low in May indicating that economic momentum in Europe’s biggest economy was faltering and European Central Bank minutes of its April meeting showed policymakers were worried about a more pronounced slowdown in the eurozone and political uncertainty in Italy.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies dipped 0.2 per cent to 93.988 after rising to 94.248 on Friday, its highest since Nov. 14.

The greenback was up 0.05 per cent at 109.400 yen after going as high as 109.830 on a slight ebb in risk aversion after US President Donald Trump said on Sunday a US team had arrived in North Korea to prepare for a proposed summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump had initially pulled out of the summit last week, which had sapped broader investor risk appetite and helped push the dollar to a two-week trough of 108.955 yen on Thursday.

The Australian dollar, which is sensitive to shifts in risk sentiment, gained 0.25 per cent to $0.7569 after shedding 0.4 per cent on Friday. The New Zealand dollar advanced 0.4 per cent to $0.6945 after losing 0.2 per cent on Friday.

The Canadian dollar extended Friday's losses to touch C$1.2992 per dollar, its weakest since May 8. It had retreated roughly 0.8 per cent on Friday as crude prices tumbled.

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20electric%20motors%20with%20102kW%20battery%20pack%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E570hp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20890Nm%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%20428km%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C700%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD

Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Pathaan
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BIG SPENDERS

Premier League clubs spent £230 million (Dh1.15 billion) on January transfers, the second-highest total for the mid-season window, the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said in a report.

How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months