US stocks ended higher on Friday on speculation that president-elect Donald Trump may temper his trade tariff threats.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4 per cent higher at 44,910.65, while the S&P 500 jumped 0.6 per cent to 6,032.38. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8 per cent to 19,218.17.
"With many US investors still out after being off for Thanksgiving yesterday, the key theme that has emerged in the last few days is the easing of tariff fears," AFP reported, quoting Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
Last week, Mr Trump said he will impose an extra 10 per cent tariff on goods from China and a tariff of 25 per cent on all products from Mexico and Canada, saying the additional levies will force America's neighbours to do more to stop migrants and illegal drugs flowing across US borders.
Mr Trump campaigned on pledges to introduce sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, policies, he says, will help pressure companies to restore manufacturing jobs in the US and raise revenue for the federal government.
However, tariff threats eased in recent days following a phone call between Mr Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who afterwards said: "There will not be a potential tariff war."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also visited Donald Trump's Florida resort on Friday to meet the US president-elect, according to Reuters.
The outcome of the meeting is still not yet known but Canada is a major US trade partner, with the vast majority of its four million barrels per day of crude exports going to the US.
Chip companies notched gains, with Nvidia closing 2.2 per cent up, after a news report that President Joe Biden's administration was mulling further curbs on semiconductor equipment sales to China that were less severe than anticipated.
"While tariffs do not serve to optimism about lower interest rates, these protectionist policies are likely to ease the burden of competition for domestic US companies," Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at XS.com, said.
"This, in addition to the expected broad tax relief and reduced regulatory burdens, should provide a further boost to corporate profitability, which explains the continued gains in markets since Trump’s victory."
Global stocks also rose boosted by easing of tariff threat concerns.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 per cent, Paris' CAC 40 added 0.8 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX was up 1 per cent when markets closed on Friday.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.3 per cent higher and Shanghai’s composite was up 0.9 per cent, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, oil prices settled lower on easing Middle East tensions following a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, with Brent down 0.46 per cent to close at $72.94 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate trading lower at $68 a barrel.
Last five meetings
2013: South Korea 0-2 Brazil
2002: South Korea 2-3 Brazil
1999: South Korea 1-0 Brazil
1997: South Korea 1-2 Brazil
1995: South Korea 0-1 Brazil
Note: All friendlies
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Results:
First Test: New Zealand 30 British & Irish Lions 15
Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
LOVE%20AGAIN
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