The exterior of the Nasdaq market site in Manhattan. Stocks had a choppy ride yesterday. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
The exterior of the Nasdaq market site in Manhattan. Stocks had a choppy ride yesterday. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Dollar hits four-month high ahead of Yellen's testimony



The dollar hit a four-month high against the yen and global equity markets edged up on Tuesday as investors awaited testimony by Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen this week and any signs of tighter U.S. monetary policy.

MSCI's measure of stock performance world-wide initially rose, lifted by expectations of robust global growth.

US stocks had a choppy session, hitting session lows after the US president Donald Trump's eldest son released an email chain related to a meeting with a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin during last year's election campaign.

Wall Street was then able to claw back its losses after the senate announced a two-week delay to its August recess in order to work on legislation, giving investors hope the Republican agenda could be advanced.

"It says to me there's a commitment to make some of the changes that the markets would like to see," said Brad McMillan, the chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in  Massachusetts.

Europe's main bourses faltered despite a fresh flurry of M&A activity.

The dollar initially edged higher against a basket of currencies before losing ground in the wake of the comments from Mr Trump Jr.

Interest rates are on the rise globally as the Fed is expected to tighten further this year, the Bank of Canada will likely raise rates this week, while comments suggest tighter European Central Bank policy and chatter from the Bank of England.

The Fed board governor Lael Brainard said she believed the US central bank should begin unwinding its balance sheet soon, but she would want to "move cautiously on further increases in the federal funds rate" to help push inflation higher toward its target.

The Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker, a voter on the Federal Open Market Committee, also echoed Brainard's sentiment.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 lost 0.68 per cent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.14 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.55 points to 21,409.07, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.9 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,425.53 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 16.91 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 6,193.31.

The dollar index .DXY fell 0.26 per cent, with the euro EUR= up 0.54 per cent to US$1.146.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.17 per cent versus the greenback at 113.87 per dollar.

US Treasury yields slipped after the comments from the Fed officials, Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 4/32 in price to yield 2.3569 percent, from 2.371 per cent late on Monday.

Ms Yellen will deliver her semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

Crude oil was higher. Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 64 cents to $47.52 a barrel. US light, sweet crude CLc1 also settled 64 cents higher to $45.04.

UAE squad

Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.

The%20Roundup%20%3A%20No%20Way%20Out
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Don%20Lee%2C%20Lee%20Jun-hyuk%2C%20Munetaka%20Aoki%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Profile box

Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D 
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company Profile

Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

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Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.

Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.

The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
The chef's advice

Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.

“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”

Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.

The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

EA Sports FC 25
The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014
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Company%20profile
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Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 


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