THE EDGE INSIGHTS
Latest Economic Insights
Economic developments that matter to regional and global markets, analysed daily.
Markets Price One in Three Odds of a Fed Rate Rise This Week
The FOMC decides at 9:00 p.m. Kuwait time with the target range at 3.50 to 3.75 percent, and Citadel Securities calling for…
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Market Wrap US-Europe 28 July: Dow Rises 1.0 Percent as Semiconductors Sink
A global sell-off in semiconductors split Wall Street on Tuesday and handed the session to the market's traditional corners. The Dow Jones…
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Commodities Wrap 28 July: Brent Settles 5.1 Percent Lower as US-Iran Pause Holds While Coffee Jumps
The geopolitical risk premium kept draining out of oil on Tuesday. Brent crude settled 5.06 percent lower at 83.89 dollars a barrel…
Read more →Market Wrap MENA and Asia 28 July: Kospi Sinks Almost 11 Percent as Chip Rout Deepens While the Gulf Holds Firmer
Asian equities suffered a heavy session on Tuesday as a deepening sell-off in semiconductor and artificial-intelligence-linked shares swept the region, with South…
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Blackstone to Open Kuwait Office With 1.3 Trillion Dollars Under Management
Blackstone will open a Kuwait office in the third quarter of 2026 through KDIPA, extending a regional relationship of nearly four decades…
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Apple Overtakes Nvidia as the Most Valuable US Company After Nvidia Loses 250 Billion Dollars in a Session
Apple moved ahead of Nvidia as the most valuable US company on Monday, 27 July 2026, after a sharp divergence between the…
Read more →Market Wrap US-Europe 27 July: Europe Advances and the Dow Gains 0.5 Percent While Chip Stocks Drag the Nasdaq
US and European markets diverged on Monday as another steep session of oil declines rippled across assets, with Europe closing broadly higher,…
Read more →Commodities Wrap 27 July: Brent Settles 8.6 Percent Lower as War Premium Unwinds
Commodities fell broadly on Monday, led by a steep drop in oil, as a pause in US-Iran hostilities pulled the war-risk premium…
Read more →Market Wrap MENA and Asia 27 July: Markets Rebound as Brent Slides Below 91 Dollars
Gulf and Asian equity markets advanced on Monday, rebounding after Friday's technology-driven selloff, as a pause in US-Iran hostilities pulled the war-risk…
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London House Prices Fell 3.7 Percent, the Only English Region Down
Reports of a Middle East led surge in London’s luxury housing market and the official price data are measuring two different things,…
Read more →Market Wrap MENA 26 July: Oman Leads With a 0.67 Percent Gain, Kuwait Firms
The Gulf reopened after the weekend to a mixed and quiet session. Oman's MSX 30 and Boursa Kuwait led modest gains, while…
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US New Home Sales Edged Up to a 628,000 Annual Rate in June 2026
Sales of new single family homes in the United States rose 1.6 percent in June 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate…
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UK Retail Sales Rose 1.0 Percent in June 2026, Beating Forecasts
Retail sales in Great Britain rose 1.0 percent in June 2026 from the month before, well ahead of the roughly 0.3 percent…
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Japan Inflation Rose to 1.7 Percent in June 2026, Still Below the Bank of Japan Target
Consumer price inflation in Japan rose to 1.7 percent in June 2026 from a year earlier, up from 1.5 percent in May,…
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China’s Central Bank Adds 500 Billion Yuan in Medium Term Loans in July 2026
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, stepped up its medium term liquidity support on 24 July 2026, conducting a 500…
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IEA Sees Global Electricity Demand Up 3.6 Percent in 2026 as Renewables Overtake Coal
Global electricity demand is set to grow about 3.6 percent in 2026 and about 3.8 percent in 2027, accelerating from around 3…
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Samsung and Broadcom Sign a Chip Pact Worth Over 200 Billion Dollars to 2030
Samsung Electronics and Broadcom have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their collaboration across memory and foundry technologies, a partnership the…
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Kuwait Signs a Record 16 Billion Dollar Pipeline Partnership Under Project Peregrine
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has announced the largest foreign direct investment in the country's history, after its subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company signed a…
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UNCTAD Says Global Goods Trade Rose About 12.5 Percent to 13.7 Trillion Dollars in the First Half of 2026, Led by Prices
Global goods trade expanded by about 12.5 percent in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, reaching around 13.7 trillion…
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S&P Says Government Spending Is Keeping Gulf Construction Resilient as the Property Market Cools in 2026
Government spending and a large pipeline of megaprojects are keeping the construction sector across the Gulf resilient even as parts of the…
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The European Central Bank Holds Its Key Rates on 23 July 2026, With Some Governors Weighing a Further Increase
The European Central Bank left its three key interest rates unchanged on 23 July 2026, keeping the deposit facility rate at 2.25…
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Saudi Public Investment Fund Signs Three Financing Framework Agreements Worth Up to 24.5 Billion Dollars With the World Bank Group and the US Export Import Bank
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund said on 24 July 2026 that it had signed three memoranda of understanding worth a combined up…
Read more →Market Wrap US-Europe 24 July: A Semiconductor Selloff Drags the Nasdaq While the Dow and Europe Rise as Oil Retreats Below 100 Dollars
Markets split on the last day of the week. Oil kept falling, easing the inflation fear that had gripped the week, and…
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The Week Ahead: The Federal Reserve Decides on 29 July, US Growth and Inflation Data Land, and the Megacap Technology Earnings Peak
The wait is over. After two previews that pointed to it, the Federal Reserve's July meeting arrives, and it lands in the…
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- Asia Market Wrap 7 October: All Eight Indices Fall as Seoul Drops 1.98 Percent
- The Week Ahead: The Federal Reserve Decides on 29 July, US Growth and Inflation Data Land, and the Megacap Technology Earnings Peak
- Asia Market Wrap 8 October: All Ten Indices Fall as Singapore Drops 3.49 Percent
- Europe Market Wrap 9 October: All Nine Indices Rise as Basic Resources Jump 2.99 Percent
- Asia Market Wrap 6 October: Nikkei Posts First Close Above 70,000 Since July as Kospi Falls