Cinemas have been ordered to close in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, a UAE company that operates them said.
Customers said they were turned away from Vox Cinema in Yas Mall on Friday by staff who said the company had received a notice instructing cinemas in the emirate to shut.
“In compliance with the government-mandated closure of cinemas in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, Vox Cinemas will be temporarily closed from Friday, 5 February until further notice,” a post on the company’s Instagram account said.
“We will be back soon, so please stay tuned for updates on reopening.”
Last month, Dubai introduced restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.
It cut seating capacity in entertainment venues including cinemas and sports stadiums to 50 per cent.
But the closure of cinemas is the first such measure to affect Abu Dhabi.
Cinemas in the emirate closed in March but were granted permission to reopen at limited capacity in August, with precautions such as mandatory masks and social distancing.
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Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
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