Business

US Economy Expanded at Solid 2.1% Pace in January-March, Government Says

Business President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking at the opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US Economy Expanded at Solid 2.1% Pace in January-March, Government Says

The US economy expanded at a solid and unexpected 2.1% annual pace from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its final estimate…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
Business A handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on January 2, 2025, shows a partial view of the oil refinery of Baiji north of Baghdad, during the inauguration ceremony of the fourth and fifth units. (Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)

Baghdad Urges OPEC to Raise Iraq's Production Quota

Baghdad has urged OPEC to increase Iraq's oil production quota, taking into account the damage done to its industry by its history of conflicts and the recent…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business General view of part of Cairo (Reuters)

Egypt Overhauls Nitrogen Fertilizer Export Levy, Exempts High-grade Ammonium Nitrate

Egypt has revamped its export tax regime for nitrogen fertilizers, replacing a fixed export tax with a 10% ad valorem duty on all nitrogenous fertilizer…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business A worker displays gold bullion bar at the ABC Refinery in Sydney - AFP

Gold Lingers Near 7-month Low as Fed Hike Bets Boost Dollar

Gold fell for a third straight session on Thursday, lingering near a more than seven-month low it had reached in the previous session, as expectations of US…

Business A drilling rig operates near a crude oil reserve in the Permian Basin oil field in Texas, USA (Reuters)

Oil Falls to Pre-war Levels on Rising Middle East Supply

Oil prices fell on Thursday to levels last seen before the start of the Iran war as expectations of rising supply from the Middle East outweighed demand…

Asharq Al Awsat

Business Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 17, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/via WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Three Saudi-Flagged Vessels Transit Strait of Hormuz after Washington-Tehran Agreement

Three Saudi-flagged supertankers transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to ship-tracking data, just hours after US President Donald Trump signed…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business There is a growing consensus in the European Union that it is too dependent on China. Nicolas TUCAT / AFP/File

EU Wrestles over How to Tackle China Export Flood

EU leaders will grapple on Thursday over whether the bloc needs new beefed-up trade defenses to curb the surge of Chinese exports deemed an existential threat…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business (FILES) This aerial view shows the fuel depot of Aral at the Ruhr Oel petroleum refineries of BP Gelsenkirchen GmbH in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)

Oil Prices Sink Further as Trump Signs Deal to Reopen Hormuz

Oil prices tumbled again Thursday after US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart signed off on a deal to end their war and reopen the Strait of…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business A safety and security vehicle operated by MODON (MODON) 

MODON Boosts Saudi Supply Chains With More Than $147 Million in Investments

Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Cities and Technology Zones Authority (MODON) has strengthened the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics platform and a key hub…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business Syria’s Jihar gas field, one of the country’s major gas fields, in the desert west of Palmyra in Homs province. Syrian Energy Ministry/File Photo

Syria-US Gas Deal Aims to Ease Financial Bottleneck

The Syrian Petroleum Company has signed a major implementation contract with US companies ConocoPhillips and Novaterra Energy to develop gas fields and raise…

Muwafaq Mohammed (Damascus)
Business  A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft of Saudi airline Riyadh Air is pictured on the tarmac at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Riyadh Air Wins Approval to Operate US Flights

Saudi Arabia's new airline Riyadh Air won the right to operate flights to and from the United States, the US Transportation Department said in an order Tuesday…

Business AUSTIN, TEXAS - JUNE 16: Gas prices are displayed at an Exxon Mobil gas station on June 16, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

Exxon Mobil to Supply South Africa's First Planned LNG Terminal

Exxon Mobil has signed a preliminary deal to supply liquefied natural gas to Zululand Energy Terminal, which will be South Africa's first LNG import facility…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

IEA Sees Gradual Hormuz Recovery Tipping Into Significant 2027 Surplus

The world oil market will recover gradually from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz before tipping into a significant surplus in 2027, the International…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh delivers a speech on the day of his swearing-in ceremony, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 22, 2026. (Reuters)

US Fed Set to Hold Rates Steady at Warsh’s First Meeting in Charge

The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday at Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the central bank, with rate hikes…

Business A shopper in a London supermarket (EPA)

UK Inflation Holds Steady at 2.8% Ahead of Bank of England Decision

British inflation unexpectedly held at 2.8% for May, unchanged from the 13-month low reached in April, official figures showed on Wednesday, a day before the…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Business People walk past a gold business shop at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP)

Gold Steady as Investors Await Details of US-Iran Deal, Fed Verdict

Gold prices were steady on Wednesday, near a one-week high, as investors awaited further details on the US-Iran agreement and the Federal Reserve's policy…

Business  A person prepares to pump gas at a Valero gas station on June 16, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)

Oil Dips as Investors Weigh Deal on Iran War as Uncertainty Persists on Hormuz

Oil prices inched lower on Wednesday, extending the previous session's declines as investors assessed the US-Iran peace deal, though uncertainty over the full…

Business Ships wait to transit the Strait of Hormuz on June 15. REUTERS

Energy Sector Clears ‘Hormuz’ After US-Iran Deal, Risk Premium in Focus

The energy sector and the global economy have avoided the worst-case scenario: oil at $150 a barrel. That was the level many financial institutions and…

Sabri Najeh
Business A screen displays the logo for ConocoPhillips on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, April 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Syria Signs Gas Sector Contract with US Energy Giant

Syria on Tuesday signed a contract involving US oil giant ConocoPhillips to develop the country's gas sector, state media reported, as Damascus seeks to…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business AUSTIN, TEXAS - JUNE 15: In an aerial view, oil storage tanks are seen at the Sunoco LP Fuel Supply Terminal on June 15, 2026 in Austin, Texas.  Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

Oil Drops About 4% to Three-month Low as Markets Weigh US-Iran Deal

Oil prices fell about 4% on Tuesday to fresh three-month lows as markets weighed prospects for a resumption of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz alongside…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Two people look at gold jewelry outside a shop in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (AFP)

Gold Rises over 1% as US-Iran Peace Deal Optimism Eases Rate Hike Bets

Gold prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday as expectations of an interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve this year eased, following an interim US–Iran…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Riyadh International Industry Week in its previous edition. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi-German Partnership Bolsters Kingdom’s Global Industrial Reach

Saudi Arabia is preparing to host Riyadh International Industry Week 2026, which will take place June 21–24 at the Riyadh International Convention and…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business A pair of solar installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026. (AP)

Iran War Is a ‘Wake-up Call’ for Southeast Asia’s Energy Sector, Report Says

The war in Iran has exposed major risks for Southeast Asia that could cost the region many billions of dollars if it does not diversify sources of energy more…

Business Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 15, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Goldman Sachs Cuts Oil Price Forecasts after US-Iran Deal

Goldman Sachs lowered its fourth-quarter Brent crude oil price forecast to $80 from $90 and cut its 2027 average estimate to $75 from $80, after the US and…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business FILE PHOTO: A drone view of vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Beyond Oil Barrels: Hormuz Breakthrough Reshapes Gulf Economic Stability

The recent breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz crisis is more than a temporary development aimed at ensuring the flow of energy shipments. It represents a…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business  Traders wait at the Bahrain Bourse in Manama_ Bahrain_ November 8_ 2020. REUTERS

Most Gulf Markets Gain on Iran Deal

Most ‌Gulf equities rose in early trade on Monday after the US and Iran announced a preliminary deal to end the war and restore traffic through the Strait…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Founder, CEO, Chairman, and Chief Engineer of SpaceX, Elon Musk, speaks via videolink on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, US, June 12, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Musk Says SpaceX Could Bring $1 Trillion in Revenue by 2030

Elon ‌Musk said on Sunday that his rocket company, SpaceX, could bring in $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, making the statement two days after the company…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business  A woman walks past murals at a shopping center in Beijing on June 13, 2026. (AFP)

Fitch Affirms China's Credit Rating at 'A'

Global ratings agency Fitch on Monday affirmed China's long-term sovereign rating at "A" with a stable outlook, citing its large and diversified ‌economy,…

Business People shopping in a market in Saudi Arabia (SPA)

Saudi Arabia's Inflation Edges Up to 1.8% in May

Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.8% year-on-year in May 2026, compared with the same month a year earlier, according to official data released…

Asharq Al Awsat