Business

Tech Hit by New AI Worries on Positive Day for Most Markets

Business Hong Kong stocks rallied more than three percent on a broadly healthy day for Asian markets. Leung Man Hei / AFP

Tech Hit by New AI Worries on Positive Day for Most Markets

Tech firms tumbled Thursday as investors contemplated the outlook for the AI boom after Democrats swept the US midterms, partly on the back of growing anger…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Türkiye is rapidly expanding its renewable energy capacity. But as host of COP31, the country faces growing pressure to match its clean energy ambitions with a clear commitment to phase out fossil fuels. Yasin AKGUL / AFP

Türkiye Showcases Renewables Surge, but Leaves Coal Intact

On a windy hillside about an hour's drive northwest of Istanbul, the Catalca power plant was one of Türkiye's first large-scale wind farms and has been feeding…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Officials from the General Organization for Social Insurance at an earlier meeting with businessmen and businesswomen at the Riyadh Chamber (SPA)

Saudi Arabia Offers 100% Social Insurance Debt Waiver to Businesses That Have Exited Market

Saudi Arabia's General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) has made businesses that have ceased operations and exited the Saudi market eligible for a 100%…

Bandar al-Mosalam (Riyadh)
Business A general view shows Ras Tanura's oil production plant near Dammam in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province (AFP)

From Aramco's Profits to State Budget Revenue: How Do Oil Proceeds Reach Government Coffers?

Saudi Aramco's financial results and Saudi Arabia's third-quarter budget performance report, released on the same day, revealed a divergence between the…

Hala Saghbini (Riyadh)
Business Representation of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Crypto Dips on Democrat Midterm Wins, Binance Hack Dents Optimism

Cryptocurrencies briefly dipped on Wednesday as Democrats won majorities in both the Senate and House in the US midterm elections, a potential blow to an…


Business President Javier Milei of Argentina was in New York participating in an investment promotion event. Angela Weiss / AFP

Milei Cheers Economic Benefits of Iran War for Argentina

Argentine President Javier Milei, a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump and Israel, on Monday hailed the benefits of the Iran war for his country's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business  People visit a clothes shop in Beijing on March 9, 2026. (AFP)

China Starts Year with Booming Trade, Despite US Exports Drop

China's trade surged by a fifth in the first two months of the year, official data showed Tuesday, significantly outpacing forecasts as a plunge in shipments…

Business CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 02: A sign displays prices for gasoline at a station on March 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Crude Plunges, Stocks Rally as Trump Says War 'Pretty Much' Complete

Oil prices tanked and equities rallied Tuesday following a wild day of swings that came after Donald Trump said the US-Israel war on Iran would be ending…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business A trader monitors stock prices at a Stock Exchange in Karachi, Pakistan, 09 March 2026.  EPA/REHAN KHAN

Polish, Czech Republic Curb Bond Sales as Iran War Turmoil Jolts Markets

Poland canceled a bond swap tender and the Czech Republic slashed the size of a planned auction for Wednesday as the Iran war roiled global markets, sending…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Small pieces of sugar (Pixels)

Global Sugar Prices Rally as Oil surges, Driven by Middle East War

World sugar prices surged on Monday as the US-Israel war with Iran disrupted oil supplies, pushing crude oil prices to $119 a barrel and sparking fears that…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, February 28, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT

EU Should Press Ahead with Energy Market Integration After Iran Crisis, Spain’s Cuerpo Says

Spain's Finance Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday that current discussions among European governments would be an opportunity to integrate energy markets…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Jeddah Islamic Port (Mawani)

Saudi Ports: A Lifeline for Global Trade in an Era of Turbulence

Amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Arabian Gulf and disruptions to vital shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia’s ports have emerged…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business  A motorist fills a container with fuel at a petrol station, as the price of oil and gas has surged amid the conflict in the Middle East, in London, Britain, March 5, 2026 (Reuters)

Iran War Sends Shockwaves Through African Fuel Market and Economies

Surging oil prices triggered by the war with Iran are rippling across African economies, threatening higher fuel costs, rising inflation and renewed pressure…

Business  Motorists queue up as others wait behind a rope for their turn to get fuel at a pump, fearing a possible fuel shortage due to the Iran war, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP)

World Shares Tumble as Iran War Pushes Crude Prices Over $110 a Barrel

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 5% and other Asian markets also tumbled Monday after oil prices soared to nearly $120 a barrel, casting a…

Business  A worker fills up a car at a gas station as oil prices are expected to increase amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Governments Scramble to Limit Fallout of Iran War as Oil Prices Surge

Governments scrambled to limit the impact on economies and consumers from the widening Iran war, which fueled a record surge in oil prices on Monday after key…

Business Pumpjacks work the wells operated by Chevron at Midway-Sunset field near Fellows, north of Taft, in Kern County, California, on March 8, 2026.  (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

Oil Pares Gains But Still on Track for Record Surge as Iran War Escalates

Oil prices came off earlier highs on Monday but were still up more than 15% at levels not seen since mid-2022 as some major producers cut supplies and fears of…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright attend a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., US, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

US Says it Will Not Hit Iran Energy Sector

The United States will spare Iran's energy infrastructure as it wages war with Israel against Tehran, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday. With oil…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
Business Pumping station at the end of the Druzhba oil pipeline in Schwedt, Germany (AP)

Iraqi Oil Production Collapses as Hormuz Still Blocked by US-Iran War, Sources Say

Iraqi oil production from its main southern oilfields has fallen by 70% to just 1.3 million barrels per day as the country is unable to export oil via the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business One of the ATMs in downtown Cairo, the Egyptian capital (AFP)

Egyptian Pound Hits Record Low as Mideast War Roils Markets

Egypt's currency fell to a record low, trading at over 52 to the US dollar on Sunday, as the economic fallout of the war in the Middle East hits the region's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business An investor monitors the Saudi stocks (AFP)

Saudi Index Extends Gains

Most Gulf stock markets rose in early trade on Sunday, with the Saudi index extending gains to a fifth session. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI climbed…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (X)

Kuwait Makes Precautionary Cut in Oil Production

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Saturday it has implemented a precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput as part of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Kuwait City)
Business Mawani Adds Hapag-Lloyd’s SE4 Service to Jeddah Islamic Port

Mawani Adds Hapag-Lloyd’s SE4 Service to Jeddah Islamic Port

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) announced the addition of Hapag-Lloyd’s SE4 shipping service to Jeddah Islamic Port, a move designed to bolster the Kingdom…

Business A drone image shows an aerial view of MSC Ela registered in Panama (IMO 9282259) leaving Antwerp harbor, near Hansweert, the Netherlands, 04 March 2026. (EPA)

Shipper MSC to Introduce Emergency Fuel Surcharge

Shipping ‌company MSC said on Saturday it would implement an emergency fuel surcharge to all cargo from the Mediterranean (including West Mediterranean,…

Business Petrol prices are displayed at a filling station, as the price of oil and gas has surged amid the conflict in the Middle East, in London, Britain, March 5, 2026 REUTERS/Jack Taylor

Oil and Gas Prices Rapidly Rise as Iran War Shows No Signs of Letting Up

The price of oil surged higher and showed no signs of halting its rapid climb a week after the US and Israel launched major attacks on Iran that escalated into…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business The silhouettes of the container cranes in the Port of Balboa, managed by CK Hutchison Holdings based in Hong Kong, are seen during sunset at the entrance to the Panama Canal in Panama City on February 24, 2026. (AFP)

Hong Kong Firm Seeks $2 Billion Over Panama’s Takeover of 2 Key Canal Ports

A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking $2 billion of compensation in…