Business

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks powered solid gains for Wall Street on Friday after another chipmaker reported strong demand related to artificial intelligence.

The upbeat finish to the week for major indexes comes amid lingering anxiety over persistently high inflation, the risk of a U.S. debt default and broadly weak corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 rose, 54.17 points, or 1.3% to close at 4,205.45. It notched a small gain for the week and is in the green as May nears its close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 328.69 points, or 1%, to 33,093.34.

25 May 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates and Malaysia announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to launch talks to reach a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

The Malaysian Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the agreement will cover the areas of trade in goods and services, as well as investments and economic cooperation.

25 May 2023; MEMO: Egypt has deferred payments for its large wheat purchases, in some cases by months, according to a government official and traders, as the country grapples with a shortage of hard currency, Reuters reports.

Egypt is one of the world's biggest wheat importers and uses the purchases to make heavily subsidised bread, a politically sensitive benefit available to tens of millions of people.

25 May 2023; MEMO: Kuwait is maintaining a ban it imposed on issuing visas for workers from the Philippines amid an ongoing labour row between the two countries which talks have failed to resolve.

After Filipino authorities alleged failure to comply with a labour agreement it previously reached with Kuwait, the Gulf nation suspended the issuance of all visas for Filipino workers earlier this month.

25 May 2023; MEMO: Turkish exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to $780.5 million in the first four months of the year, making up about one per cent of the country's total exports according to Anadolu Agency, which cited data by the Turkish Exporters Council.

Saudi is 22nd largest importer of Turkish goods.

Carpets topped the Turkish products exported to Saudi Arabia, at $109 million, followed by grains and legumes at $81 million, then chemicals at $77 million.

23 May 2023; MEMO: Eleven co-founding members of Turkiye's opposition Future Party, the main component of the Six-Party opposition coalition, have resigned in protest against the anti-refugee rhetoric of Nation Alliance candidate, Kemal  Kilicdaroglu.

24 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon is likely to be placed on a "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny over unsatisfactory practices to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Being added to the list would be another major blow to a country in a financial tailspin since 2019 and struggling to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Qatargas' massive North Field Expansion (NFE) is progressing construction activities and expected to be completed by 2027, DMS Projects reports.

According to the report, the $30 billion development project involves four liquefaction mega-trains at 8 (million tons per annum) mtpa each, resulting in 32 mtpa of new LNG production.

North Field East will be the largest LNG project by liquefaction capacity undertaken to date by the industry, the report added.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Cyprus does not share the views of Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, who argued that the EastMed pipeline needed Turkiye's approval, said Energy Minister, George Papanastasiou, Channel News Asia reports.

20 May 2023; MEMO: Orthodox Jewish parties threatened to quit the coalition government if their budget demands were not met, Hebrew media reported on Friday.