Salma Hayek Pinault Redefined Hollywood. Now She’s Redefining Philanthropy.
In the worlds of Hollywood, fashion and activism, there’s never been anyone quite like Salma.
8 min
I N THE COURSE of one conversation, Salma Hayek Pinault mourns the death of her pet rescue owl, reveals that she never signed a prenup in her marriage to French billionaire François-Henri Pinault and bemoans the obnoxiousness of certain wealthy people who assume they’re interesting just because they’re rich.
But ask about her typical day, and she has no words.
“Nothing in my life is typical,” she says, her smoky voice filling the low-ceilinged room in a London pub, where she shows up on an overcast Monday afternoon awash in head-to-toe Gucci and perfume drawn from ingredients that include Mexican tuberose and queen of the night, an opulent cactus with flowers that each bloom just once a year in the dark.
The Mexican-born actress, 58, famous for her curves and sultry accent, took the objectification of Salma Hayek and bent it to her will: She used her Hollywood clout to create roles for Latina women that defy ethnic stereotypes and channeled her influence into a decadeslong fight against domestic violence. She defied the odds to become one of a tiny handful of Latina leading ladies in the 1990s, and then, while working to preserve that status, developed parallel careers as a producer and a philanthropist.
“I’m talking with my mouth full,” she says after dipping some crust from a sourdough boule into melted rosemary and garlic Camembert, on-brand for a person who professes no strict fitness regimen. “Emotional intelligence,” she’s saying of the forces that drive her. “Human, real connection.”
She’s got a high-drama aura but she’s also pragmatic, a trait visible in her charity work. “I’m passionate,” she says, “but I’m a strategist.” In just three years, Hayek Pinault has turned the Kering Foundation’s annual fundraising dinner in New York, Caring for Women, into a mini Met Gala. The event sponsored by her husband’s luxury goods company Kering sprang fully formed onto the fashion circuit—it wasn’t a slow-building phenomenon like the behemoth Met Gala—and in many ways it’s an expression of Hayek Pinault herself. Every detail runs through her for a gathering that, while raising roughly $3 million, brings attention to the fight against gender-based violence.
As a charity hostess, who on red carpets often appears bejewelled like a modern Elizabeth Taylor, she has curated her own group of tastemakers with guests including Jessica Chastain, Leonardo DiCaprio and Viola Davis.
“She gets you on board,” says friend Eva Longoria, “and she doesn’t take no for undefined an answer.”
I T’S TEMPTING to think of Hayek Pinault’s story as a rags-to-riches tale: The young actress from a small town in southern Mexico gets cast in the leading role on a telenovela and leapfrogs to stardom. In fact, she came from a wealthy family in the coastal city of Coatzacoalcos. Her father was an oil executive of Lebanese descent, her mother an opera singer with Spanish roots, and she grew up with four live-in maids. She saw Europe as a 2-year-old and traveled by private jet. She loved her pet bobcat.
After she moved to L.A. in her mid-20s, her father lost his fortune, Hayek Pinault says. She was a struggling actress with the stress of supporting herself and her family back in Mexico. “That’s when I became the best version of myself,” she says.
In Hollywood, studios first saw her accent as a liability. But director Robert Rodriguez cast her in the 1995 drug-crime western Desperado , followed a year later by his cult hit From Dusk Till Dawn , where she dances with a huge yellow python slung around her shoulders and sticks her toes in Quentin Tarantino’s mouth. Her breakthrough came in 1997 with Fools Rush In , a shotgun-marriage rom-com co-starring Matthew Perry.
With her success came Hollywood money. But her finances leapt into another dimension with her 2009 marriage to Pinault, the chief executive of Kering, a corporate giant that owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and other major luxury brands. The reality of marrying into extreme wealth surprised her.
“To me, the excitement about having a lot of money was that I didn’t have to think about money, and it turned out all people wanted to talk to me about was money,” she says of her life after joining the Pinault family. “Strangers coming to me that aren’t even friends, but they think we should be friends because they’re rich, too.”
She and Pinault keep their finances separate, she says, and there’s no prenuptial agreement dividing assets. The more she thinks about it lately, she says, the more she’d like to increase her own net worth.
“I support a lot of the aspects of my life and myself,” she says. “I have the pressure to make a certain amount of money, and I like it. And now, I decided, I want to make more.”
With their 17-year-old daughter, Valentina, on the cusp of adulthood, Hayek Pinault is pursuing business ideas, which she isn’t ready to reveal. Pinault likes this ambition, she says. “I think he finds it kind of sexy.”
ONE ATTRIBUTE that’s made Hayek Pinault famous is her body. Much has been made of her breasts: Talk-show hosts ask her questions about them, her movie characters comment on them, her red-carpet fashions flaunt them. During our interview, when I say I want to ask her a trivia question, she assumes I’m after her bra size.
No, I tell her in a total left turn, I want to learn about the time on the Frida movie set when her monkey co-star bit her, specifically where it bit her. Coincidentally, I’d just gotten a video of a monkey bite in a group chat so I thought I’d show Hayek Pinault a screenshot. It was a picture of a raised pink welt on pale skin—actually a bite on a man’s back—but Hayek Pinault assumed it was an R-rated close-up of a topless woman.
“It is a thing about the boobs,” she scolds when she sees the photo. I explain she’s looking at a monkey bite on a man’s back. “Oh. This isn’t a monkey bite in the boobs?” she asks. No, I tell her, but is she saying that’s where the monkey bit her? No, she replies. This is turning into a who’s-on-first of monkey bites and lady parts. “Can I tell you something?” she says, clutching her breasts with both hands, still horrified by the photo. “My nipples began to hurt when I saw that.”
It turns out, the Frida monkey bit her on the right hand between her thumb and forefinger, and she needed rabies shots. I asked if those were painful and she said, “Yes, yes. Stop it.” She and the monkey, whose name was Tyson, were alone in her trailer, and he started throwing all her CDs at the walls and breaking them. They got into a tug-of-war over a disc, and he bit her. “They should have told me the monkey has been possessed by the devil,” she says.
Frida was her passion project, a major moment for her now 25-year-old production company, Ventanarosa—Spanish for “pink window”—and a big learning opportunity for her. It had been a fight for her to control the material. In one meeting, while trying to wrest back the project from a studio she’d decided against, she had her agent’s attorney friend come as a prop to intimidate executives. “You sit there, nod your head, look mean,” she told him.
The strategy worked. The project was ultimately made at Miramax, the studio co-founded by Harvey Weinstein. Later, she would write a searing op-ed about being sexually harassed by Weinstein.
Hayek Pinault described in the piece having to film a “senseless” full-frontal nude love scene with another woman to placate Weinstein so he wouldn’t block the completion of Frida . Hayek Pinault, distraught over Weinstein’s tactics, vomited for the length of the shoot.
In a statement, Weinstein’s spokesman says “he apologises to Ms. Hayek for ever making her feel sad or uncomfortable.” He says that Weinstein has “a different memory of those times but isn’t looking to talk about them.”
The roughly $12 million film went on to gross $56 million worldwide and made Hayek Pinault one of the first Latinas ever to be nominated for a best actress Oscar.
With Ugly Betty , an American version of a popular Colombian telenovela, Hayek Pinault initially met resistance from ABC, she says. The actress personally presold international rights and advertising to prove the show’s worth. The series, which supercharged the career of actress America Ferrera, was considered a risk partly because it featured a Latina lead who was not Hollywood’s idea of universal beauty. Hayek Pinault pushed back when some executives wanted to give Betty a makeover. “It got really heated,” she says. Ferrera went on to win the Emmy for best actress in a comedy in 2007.
Most of Ventanarosa’s film and TV works are in Spanish and do not feature Hayek Pinault. Recent titles include the 2019 TV series Monarca , a Succession -style drama on Netflix about a family’s tequila empire, and the Spanish-language HBO series Like Water for Chocolate , premiering this fall. Separately, she continues her own work as an actress, recently premiering the Angelina Jolie–directed wartime film Without Blood at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Hayek Pinault’s longtime producing partner, José “Pepe” Tamez, says the two have been looking at shows like Squid Game , the blockbuster Korean series, to get Latinos in front of a worldwide audience in a similar way. The company had focused on the U.S. and Latin American markets for years, but now they’re thinking more globally. That’s where the opportunity is, Tamez says.
In pitch meetings, Hayek Pinault’s ability to read her audience has been a secret weapon. “Maybe this has to do with the fact that she’s an actress,” Tamez says. “She knows how to listen.”
HAYEK PINAULT’S WORK as a producer did not inform her philanthropy, she says: Her philanthropy made her a better producer.
Her interest in volunteering began in childhood, and her efforts fighting violence against women stretch back to her early days in 2004 working with the Avon Foundation. On a 2009 Unicef trip to Sierra Leone, she famously breast-fed another woman’s baby, a newborn the same age as her own daughter, to combat a regional stigma around breast-feeding. The moment was captured on camera for ABC’s Nightline .
Pinault was keenly interested in her philanthropy. Once when the two were dating and she was volunteering in South America, he asked on the phone about her day. “I said, ‘Oh, it was great. We were with the prostitutes all morning in the red-light district,’ ” she recalls. She talked for an hour, then asked about his day. “He said, ‘I’m embarrassed to tell you what was my day.’ ”
In 2008, a year before they married, the couple began working together to build the Kering Foundation, which Pinault had created to focus on women’s causes.
Over time, Hayek Pinault realised she could broaden her reach even further. In 2013, she and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter founded Gucci Chime for Change, a global campaign by the Kering brand to promote gender equality.
For her signature event, the Caring for Women dinner and charity auction in New York, Hayek Pinault keeps the scope small. The evening’s 200 guests can see each other at 20 tables around a cozy room. For an event that kicks out press, it gets a ton. This year and last, Lauren Sánchez, who is engaged to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, got in a tabloid-perfect bidding war with Kim Kardashian over a Balenciaga couture lot.
Last year, Hayek Pinault adorned the space with plants and played bird sound effects. She personally wrote fellow celebrities to make sure they’d come. Before they arrived, she lit copal, a rock incense used in Mexican rituals, and waved it around for spiritual cleansing.
“My spirit,” she says, “wants to micromanage.”
O N THIS DAY at the pub, Hayek Pinault is mourning the death of Kering, a rescue owl who became famous on her Instagram. A fox got into the aviary on the grounds of their London estate and ate Kering not long ago. The owl slept in her bedroom many nights, though not that evening. “We had our own way of communicating,” Hayek Pinault says. “She would hold my hand and play and try to pull me.” Kering was a pet but also a wild animal. “I never took that owl in if she didn’t want to come in,” she says. The actress knows her owl would have been eaten by a predator long ago if she’d lived in nature. “She had a good life,” she says.
Over the past decade, Hayek Pinault has dealt with losses like this and life’s other challenges by practicing meditation.
A session might take three hours. She knows a meditation DJ who plays music while she lets go in her mindfulness space, which is the smallest room in her house. Sometimes she’s dancing. She’s usually blindfolded, which makes standing on her head tricky. The DJ later debriefs her because she loses herself so completely that she can’t always recall what’s just happened. She finds herself accomplishing physical feats she could never achieve otherwise. She is sparing on details. “I do strange things,” she says.
In the meditation sessions, nothing hurts, she feels elastic in body and spirit. “I’m ready to go in a room wanting nothing and not knowing what to do or what you’re supposed to do—surrendering and understanding your instincts,” she says. “It’s very advanced.”
Like much in Hayek Pinault’s world, the practice is unconventional. “It’s completely the opposite of no pain, no gain,” she says. “It’s completely the opposite of what everyone does.”
Hair, Nao Kawakami; makeup, Wendy Rowe; manicure, Kate Williamson; set design, Max Bellhouse and Tilly Power; production, Bellhouse.
Copyright 2020, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. LEARN MORE
RISE Global acts as the national economic platform to reinforce confidence at speed and scale, demonstrate Dubai’s collective market strength and translate D33 into investable opportunity. In other words, where the entire country speaks with one voice to global capital.
Egypt’s annual urban inflation rose to 14.9% in July, up from 14.3% in June, according to CAPMAS. While urban food and beverage prices fell 0.6% month-on-month, they remained 8.0% higher than a year earlier, highlighting persistent inflationary pressures despite signs of easing in monthly food costs.
Gold miners are emerging as a compelling way to navigate market uncertainty, with analysts pointing to strong cash flows, attractive valuations and rising profit margins. As gold prices stabilize above US$4,000 an ounce, mining stocks could offer investors both downside protection and long-term upside.
Space42’s first-half results, with revenue up 15% and satellite-to-phone services on standard devices targeted for commercial rollout by the end of 2026, are the kind most space companies globally can’t show, and that’s what makes the regional story worth a closer look
2 min
Most listed space companies around the world are still burning cash in pursuit of the dream, so it says something that Space42, the Middle East’s flagship space firm just reported a USD$6.3 billion contracted backlog and more than USD$1.1 billion in the bank. Space42’s first-half results, with revenue up 15% and satellite-to-phone services on standard devices targeted for commercial rollout by the end of 2026, are the kind most space companies globally can’t show, and that’s what makes the regional story worth a closer look according to Josh Gilbert, Lead Analyst at etoro.
SpaceX’s first result as a listed company showed revenue of USD$7.8 billion, up 92% on a year ago, yet the company still lost more than USD$500 million and spent an extraordinary USD$18 billion on capex in a single quarter. The shares fell despite beating expectations, and that reaction says plenty about whom investors have patience for, because markets this year have been rewarding companies that can show cash coming back and punishing those that only spend it.
Space still makes up a small sliver of portfolios, although SpaceX as the poster child has likely changed that. Valuations are the sticking point for space companies, because most are spending aggressively ahead of profits and only a handful trade on a meaningful earnings multiple, so traditional metrics won’t tell you much. What they miss is how fast the picture can change, because in this sector one big contract or breakthrough can rewrite earnings expectations within a couple of quarters.
That’s exactly why the model in this region stands out. Contracts that run 15 years or more with a government counterparty are almost unheard of in this industry, and they give investors something the rest of the sector can’t, which is knowing where the revenue comes from years in advance. Space still gets talked about as tomorrow’s story, but the technology already sits behind navigation, telecommunications, logistics and agriculture. It’s the companies monetizing it that are young. This is where the comparison to AI firms fits: with heavy investment meeting enormous growth expectations, space companies are just a few years behind where the leading AI names are now.
Investors should judge these companies the same way they’d judge any other business, on free cash flow, backlog and margins, because launch headlines grab attention but tell you very little about who actually makes money. This is a sector with a long way to run, and the companies worth backing will be the ones proving it in the numbers, not on the launchpad.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia led MENA’s outbound investment in H1 2026, completing 119 deals worth $25.5 billion, according to EY. Overall, the region recorded 390 M&A deals worth $46.7 billion, while the UAE remained the top destination for inbound investment.
< 1 min
The UAE and Saudi Arabia remained the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s most active outbound investors in the first half of 2026, according to global consultancy EY.
Outbound investment remained resilient, with 119 deals worth $25.5 billion completed during the first half of this year, the consultancy said in its MENA M&A Insights report.
Major transactions included Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance for $7 billion, and Saudi Electronic Gaming Holding Company’s acquisition of Shanghai Moonton Technology for $6 billion.
Domestic deal value reached $16 billion – more than four times the value recorded in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year – driven by several large transactions across real estate, power and utilities and technology.
However, merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in MENA fell in the first half of 2026 due to geopolitical developments. The region recorded 390 M&A deals worth $46.7 billion in the first half of 2026, compared to 434 deals worth $58.8 billion a year ago.
May and June accounted for 61% of Q2 2026 deal volume and 79% of deal value. Large transactions valued above $500 million contributed nearly three-quarters of total deal value between March and June.
The UAE continued to lead as MENA’s preferred destination for inbound investment, supported by its diversified economy and business-friendly regulatory environment.
Sovereigns such as the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, continued to play a pivotal role in shaping M&A activity across the region, the report said.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Qatar National Bank (QNB) is seeking to raise a $2 billion five-year senior unsecured term loan in the Asian market, according to LSEG’s Loan Connector. The facility, priced at 75 basis points over compounded SOFR, will refinance a $2 billion loan completed in 2023, with signing expected in September.
< 1 min
Qatar National Bank (QNB) has returned to the Asian loan market to raise a $2 billion five-year senior unsecured term loan, less than a year after securing a smaller facility, according to LSEG’s Loan Connector.
DBS Bank, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Mizuho Bank and Standard Chartered have been mandated as lead arrangers and bookrunners for the bullet facility, which carries a margin of 75bp over compounded SOFR.
Mandated lead arrangers committing $200 million or more will receive an upfront fee of 90bp, while lead arrangers providing between $125 million and $199 million will earn 80bp.
Arrangers contributing $75 million to $124 million are offered 70bp, managers committing $50 million to $74 million will receive 60bp, and participants with smaller commitments are entitled to a fee of 55bp.
An additional 5bp early-bird fee is available to lenders that commit by August 28.
A virtual bank meeting is scheduled for August 17, with commitments due by September 11 and signing expected on September 23.
The proceeds will be used to refinance a $2 billion three-year loan completed in October 2023.
QNB’s last syndicated loan was a $1.5 billion five-year facility raised in October 2025 and was priced at 60bp over SOFR.
Qatar’s largest bank by market capitalisation, QNB is rated Aa2/A /A (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch).
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
RISE Global acts as the national economic platform to reinforce confidence at speed and scale, demonstrate Dubai’s collective market strength and translate D33 into investable opportunity. In other words, where the entire country speaks with one voice to global capital.
2 minRISE Global is the global platform for investment capital and the future of urban development. RISE Global acts as the national economic platform to reinforce confidence at speed and scale, demonstrate Dubai’s collective market strength and translate D33 into investable opportunity. In other words, where the entire country speaks with one voice to global capital.
📅 Dates: 13-14 Oct 2026
📍 Location: Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE
💡 Why attend?
- 5,000+ visitors
- 250+ global investors
- 100+ world-class speakers
- 40+ countries represented
- 2 immersive stages: Main & Industry Stages
- 1 Global Real Estate Investment Summit [Access with delegate pass only]
- Dedicated Investor Programme
- Dedicated Bespoke Meetings Programme & Concierge Team
- Keynotes, panels, investment forums & networking lounges
Join us in Dubai World Trade Centre, for RISE Global from 13 – 14 October 2026. RISE Global is the global platform for investment capital and the future of urban development. RISE Global acts as the national economic platform to reinforce confidence at speed and scale, demonstrate Dubai’s collective market strength and translate D33 into investable opportunity. In other words, where the entire country speaks with one voice to global capital. The UAE projects one credible global story of strength, resilience, delivery and long-term “investability”.
What is the impact of RISE Global?
RISE Global deepens relationships with sovereign funds, global institutions and developers that invest in Dubai, advocate for its market and support UAE organisations internationally. RISE Global builds a qualified, year-round pipeline connecting Dubai projects with the capital capable of sustaining Dubai’s next growth. RISE Global translates next-generation real estate, infrastructure, hospitality, logistics, data-centre and sustainable-city ambition into tangible investment and partnership opportunity.
This powerful and strategic platform for the real estate ecosystem to converge to define the cities of tomorrow. RISE Global is where the world’s real estate and infrastructure government leaders, institutional investors, forward-thinking architects and designers, innovators and industry powerhouses come together to forge the future of urban development. With $15T+ in AUM represented, 5,000+ high-profile leaders, 1,000+ bilateral meetings, 250+ global institutional investors and 100+ world-class speakers from 40+ countries, RISE is the #1 platform for driving global capital investment forward.
The time is now: total commitment will show the world the collective strength, depth and resilience of the UAE. Be part of this transformative event and witness the future of urban development unfold.
Be part of the future of urban development, register now.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Egypt’s annual urban inflation rose to 14.9% in July, up from 14.3% in June, according to CAPMAS. While urban food and beverage prices fell 0.6% month-on-month, they remained 8.0% higher than a year earlier, highlighting persistent inflationary pressures despite signs of easing in monthly food costs.
< 1 minEgypt’s annual urban consumer inflation accelerated to 14.9% in July from 14.3% in June, state statistics agency CAPMAS said.
* Nationwide annual inflation rose 13.0% in July compared with July 2025.
* Urban food and beverage prices fell 0.6% month-on-month in July, but were 8.0% higher than a year earlier.
* Nationwide, the all-items index rose 0.1% from June, with food and beverages slipping 0.1% month-on-month.
* Rural annual inflation reached 11.2% in July, with rural food and beverages up 7.8% year-on-year.
* Thirteen analysts polled by Reuters between July 29 and August 6 had forecast a range of 14.6% to 16.3%.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Gold miners are emerging as a compelling way to navigate market uncertainty, with analysts pointing to strong cash flows, attractive valuations and rising profit margins. As gold prices stabilize above US$4,000 an ounce, mining stocks could offer investors both downside protection and long-term upside.
3 minGold is one of the market’s go-to hedges in rocky times. Don’t forget that gold miners’ stocks are too.
The stock market’s gains in 2026 belie the rocky macroeconomic picture: elevated inflation, heightened geopolitical tensions, and jitters about the artificial-intelligence trade. That backdrop, in theory, should be the time for gold to shine. Instead, the price of the yellow metal has tumbled more than 5% so far, after last year’s blistering 65% rally. In part, the U.S. dollar’s recovery has stymied gold, which benefited from the greenback’s weakness in 2025.
Even with the precious metal’s recent weakness, gold mining stocks could be the best way to profit from this year’s uncertainty.
Gold miners “are a valuable hedge against macro risks that would likely be damaging for equities,” BCA Research’s Noah Weisberger and Rishabh Shah wrote this week.
Concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next moves to tackle inflation, the increasingly crowded AI trade, and steep valuations for tech stocks are just some of the drivers that could help gold’s price get on even footing— and lead to even bigger gains for miner stocks.
These stocks’ prices tend to outpace gold’s moves, because the companies have fixed operational costs. So when gold’s price rallies, their profit margins soar, and vice versa. For instance, the VanEck Gold Miners GDX +7.39% exchange-traded fund has fallen 11% this year as the metal has slumped.
Now, gold’s price just needs to stabilize to help miners’ stocks take off, and that seems to be happening. The precious metal has recently found support above the $4,000 level, and has stuck in a narrow range since the end of June. But its price rose ever so slightly in July, ending a four-month losing streak for the metal. Technical analysis also suggests that gold is due for a comeback.
Barron’s recently wrote that the pullbacks for both gold miners and the metal itself are overdone. Senior technical analyst Doug Busch noted that the VanEck ETF is on the “verge of a breakout” and has the potential to hit $11o in early 2027, up more than 40% from its current price.
Gold miners also have more than their role as a market hedge going for them. Their fundamentals are solid, too, says Chris Mancini, portfolio co-manager of the Gabelli Gold Fund.
“Precious metals miners are generating substantial amounts of free cash flow given profit margins of over $2,000 per ounce, and are returning this cash to shareholders through buybacks and dividends,” he said in an email.
“Buying the miners is a cheap way to get exposure to the price of gold,” he added. His fund owns Newmont NEM +6.71%, a Barron’s stock pick last year, and Agnico Eagle Mines as top holdings, as well as miners Northern Star Resources, Endeavour Mining, and Kinross Gold K+8.59%.
Miners are better businesses than they used to be, the BCA team added.
“Capex is more disciplined, margins are high and rising…and they are largely independent of the AI story,” Weisberger, BCA’s head of equities, and Shah, a senior analyst, wrote.
That last part is key. AI is disrupting the software industry and many other services and information-oriented businesses, and investors have piled into AI stocks. But ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and other large-language models aren’t going to replace the need to mine for metals.
“Equity portfolios can benefit from exposure to quality that is uncorrelated to AI risk, and gold miners fit the bill,” the BCA team said.
They recommend that investors buy the VanEck Gold Miners ETF, which owns top miners such as Agnico, Barrick Mining ABX +7.24%, and Newmont.
An important bonus for big gold miners’ stocks is that their valuations are attractive after the gold’s pullback, too. The VanEck ETF is now trading at just a little more than nine times next year’s earnings estimates. That’s a big discount to its five-year average price-to-earnings ratio of 14, according to FactSet.
What’s more, the ETF is currently valued at a more than 50% discount to the S&P 500 SPX -0.17%, which is trading for about 19 times earnings estimates for 2027. Mining stocks have typically traded at just a 25% discount to the broader market over the past five years. So there is significant upside for the group if valuations move back toward normal levels.
One factor that complicates mining stocks as a market hedge, of course, is if stocks bounce back, which has been the case so far in August.
But both the market and economic outlooks remain cloudy, and investors remain nervous about the Fed’s next moves and AI stocks. Gold miners should do just fine, even if the anxious mood on Wall Street persists.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
Limassol will host WIKIEXPO CYPRUS 2026 on 6 November 2026, bringing together more than 5,000 professionals, 50+ speakers, and 50+ exhibitors from over 30 countries. The event will spotlight the latest trends in forex, fintech, payments, crypto, and AI, offering a platform for industry leaders, innovators, and investors to explore emerging technologies, share insights, and build strategic partnerships.
3 min
Mark your calendars for WIKIEXPO CYPRUS 2026, taking place on November 6, 2026 at the prestigious Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa. As one of Europe’s most influential gatherings for the foreign exchange and fintech services industry, the event is set to welcome over 5,000 professionals, 50+ distinguished speakers, and 50+ exhibitors from more than 30 countries.
This year’s expo places a strategic focus on the core pillars that drive today’s financial markets, with dedicated tracks on:
- Foreign Exchange & Liquidity Solutions – Institutional FX, prime brokerage, liquidity aggregation, and risk management
- Regulatory & Compliance Frameworks – Navigating MiCA, CySEC regulations, AML/KYC, and cross-border licensing
- Next-Generation Payments – Cross-border remittance, digital wallets, instant settlement, and merchant services
- Platform Building & Brokerage Technology – Trading platforms (MT4/5, cTrader, proprietary), white-label solutions, CRM, and infrastructure providers
- Fintech Service Providers – B2B technology vendors, data analytics, AI-driven trading tools, and compliance automation
- Crypto & DeFi – On-chain liquidity, tokenized assets, smart contract-based settlement, and the convergence of crypto with traditional FX
- AI in Finance – AI-powered trading algorithms, predictive analytics, fraud detection, and regulatory technology (RegTech)
Set in the heart of Cyprus – a global hub for forex brokers, payment processors, and regulatory technology firms – this expo offers an unrivalled platform for service providers, brokers, IBs, liquidity providers, payment gateways, and platform vendors to connect, showcase innovations, and forge cross-border partnerships. Backed by CySEC’s stringent oversight and EU-wide passporting privileges, this jurisdiction empowers firms to scale operations across the European Economic Area, all while staying ahead of the crypto and AI waves reshaping the industry.
Attendees will gain actionable insights through keynote addresses, panel debates, fireside chats, and dedicated networking sessions, all designed to address the real-world challenges and opportunities facing the FX, fintech, and digital asset ecosystem.
“Cyprus has long been recognized as a gateway between Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a robust regulatory environment and a thriving community of financial technology providers,” said Loki So, COO of WikiEXPO. “Our Cyprus edition is uniquely tailored to the FX, liquidity, payments, and platform-building sectors – but we also recognize that crypto and AI are no longer optional. We aim to bring together the entire value chain of service providers – from traditional brokers to cutting-edge DeFi protocols and AI-driven analytics firms – under one roof to drive responsible innovation and sustainable growth in this dynamic region.”
How to Participate:
The Only Official Free Registration Link:
https://www.wikiexpo.com/Cyprus/2026/en/?c=7iil3INU
Sponsorship & Exhibiting Opportunities:
Secure a prime booth or exclusive sponsorship package – ideal for liquidity providers, trading platform vendors, payment solution companies, regulatory tech firms, Web3 infrastructure projects, and AI fintech startups.
Contact Name: Loki So
Email Address: loki@wikiexpo.com
Telegram: https://t.me/Loki_wikiexpo_coo
LinkedIn ID: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loki-so-33826318a/
About WikiEXPO
WikiEXPO is a global hub for financial innovation, uniting visionaries and leaders in fintech, forex, and crypto industries. With a worldwide community of over two million followers, our iconic summits are held in global capitals including Dubai, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Bangkok, Singapore, Sydney, South Africa, and beyond. From cutting-edge startups to industry giants, we connect the brightest minds. After six years of rapid development, WikiEXPO has become one of the world’s largest and most influential event platforms in the forex, fintech, and digital asset space.
Past Speakers at WikiEXPO (selected):
- Dominic Williams – Founder & Chief Scientist, DFINITY Foundation
- Evan Auyang Chi-chun – Group President, Animoca Brands
- Justin Sun – Founder, TRON; Member, HTX Global Advisory Board
- Reeve Collins – Co-Founder, Tether
- Cynthia Wu – Founding Partner and CCO, BIT
- Livio Weng – CEO & Executive Director, Bitfire
- Kevin Lee – CCO, Gate
- Mario Nawfal – CEO, IBC Group
- Yiannos Ashiotis – Board Chairman – Revolut Digital Assets Europe
- John Riggins – Partner, BTC Inc
- Loretta Joseph – Policy Consultant, The Commonwealth; Chairman, ADFSAC
- Vít Jedlička, President, Free Republic of Liberland
- Bugra Celik – Director, Digital Assets | Global Private Banking & Wealth, HSBC
- Hassan Ahmed – Country Director, Coinbase Singapore
We look forward to welcoming you to Limassol this November – where the FX, fintech, and crypto communities converge to shape the future of finance!
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued to expand, marking a fourth straight month of growth despite a slight slowdown. Strong domestic demand supported business activity, while regional tensions and higher freight costs weighed on exports. Businesses remain optimistic that solid economic fundamentals and diversification efforts will sustain growth in the months ahead.
< 1 min
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector growth eased slightly in July but remained in expansion territory for a fourth consecutive month, supported by rising order volumes despite a decline in export demand, a business survey showed.
The Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 53.1 in July, down marginally from 53.3 in June, but holding well above the neutral threshold of 50.
Nearly 19% of firms reported an increase in output, compared with only 4% that saw a decline. New order volumes supported growth though the pace eased from June.
Regional conflict weighed on export orders. “Export orders declined for the fifth consecutive month as elevated freight costs and regional tensions weighed on international trade, although the pace of contraction eased compared with previous months,” the report said.
Input cost inflation eased to a four-month low but remained sharp relative to historical trends.
Companies continued to pass higher costs on to customers, leading to another sharp rise in output prices, though the increase was slightly softer than in June.
Staff expenses climbed at the strongest rate in five months, reflecting salary increases in response to inflationary pressures.
“The sustained expansion in domestic demand, resilient business activity and improving supply side conditions reinforce our expectation that Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy will maintain solid growth momentum through the second half of the year, supported by strong underlying economic fundamentals and continued progress in economic diversification,” said Naif Al-Ghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank
Non-oil private sector firms added jobs in July, but well below the levels seen in early 2026.
Looking ahead, business confidence for the year ahead softened from June’s five-month peak, with just 8% of non-oil private sector firms expecting output to grow.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Arab Bank Group reported a 7% increase in net profit to $571 million in the first half of 2026, supported by higher fee and commission income. The lender also expanded its balance sheet, with total assets rising to $80.3 billion and customer deposits reaching $58.8 billion.
2 min
Jordan-based Arab Bank Group has reported solid results for the first half of 2026 which rose to $571 million, up 7% over last year’s figure of $535.3 million, as the growth in fee and commission income helped offset a challenging regional and global operating environment.
Announcing the results the six-months period ended June 30, 2026, Arab Bank said the Group maintained its strong capital base with a total equity of $13.5 billion.
Its total assets increased 7% to $80.3 billion, while loans grew 6% to $42.1 billion.
The customer deposits rose 6% to $58.8 billion, while total equity stood at $13.5 billion.
On the solid results, Chairman Sabih Masri said the Group’s sustained positive performance in the first half achieved despite continuing regional and global uncertainty, reflects the strength of the bank’s strategy and the soundness of its fundamentals.
Masri said the bank continues to monitor regional development with vigilance and discipline, managing risk proactively while preserving the strength of its balance sheet and delivering solid, sustainable returns to shareholders.
He pointed out that the lender continued to monitor geopolitical developments closely while maintaining disciplined risk management and a strong balance sheet.
The bank, he said, was expanding its presence in key markets, including the resumption of operations in Syria, the launch of an Islamic banking window in Algeria and the continued development of its franchise in Iraq.
It is also strengthening its wealth management business through its Swiss unit, he added.
CEO Randa Sadik said revenue increased 3% in the first half, supported by strong growth in non-funded income, contributing to the increase in net profit.
The bank’s balance sheet continued to expand, reflecting its focus on financial strength and sustainable growth, she stated.
“The Group has maintained solid balance sheet growth of 7%, reflecting its ongoing focus on financial strength and sustainable growth. This performance underscores the Group’s commitment to delivering consistent value and supporting long-term business objectives,” she added.
Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.
Interior designer Thomas Hamel on where it goes wrong in so many homes.
Zero income tax. No capital gains. Golden Visa pathways for investors. The UAE’s financial architecture is unlike anywhere else on earth.
The creators are navigating this ecosystem for millions of followers across the Gulf.
5 min
The financial questions being asked in Dubai and Doha are unlike those being asked anywhere else. Zero income tax. No capital gains levy. A Golden Visa scheme that is reshaping who chooses the Gulf as a permanent financial base. A crypto regulatory framework more coherent than most Western equivalents. DIFC and QFC sitting at the exact midpoint between the European and Asian trading day, managing capital from more than two hundred nationalities. The finance creators who navigate this environment for audiences of millions are not explaining a generic financial system. They are mapping one of the most deliberately advantaged economic architectures on earth.
This is not a ranking of the most followed accounts in the Middle East. It is a ranking of the voices most useful to the people actually living and building wealth in Dubai and Doha — expats encountering a tax-free salary for the first time, GCC nationals navigating Islamic finance requirements alongside global investment options, and international entrepreneurs who chose the Gulf specifically for what its financial structure makes possible.
| Dubai and Doha’s finance creators serve the most internationally complex financial demographic in the world. No generic personal finance content has ever been sufficient for this audience. |
1. Ahmed Sanad – @a.sanad.a · Investing & Financial Education, UAE
Ahmed Sanad is one of the UAE’s most recognizable investment educators, creating Arabic-first content around stock markets, long-term investing and Shariah-compliant wealth building. His videos simplify complex financial concepts, making investing more accessible to younger audiences across the Gulf. His audience represents a growing segment of first-time investors actively participating in the UAE’s expanding capital markets.
2. CA Anamika Rana – @ca_anamikarana · Finance & Tax Education, UAE
CA Anamika Rana combines accounting expertise with practical financial education, covering investing, taxation, global markets and personal finance through accessible digital content. As a chartered accountant, she focuses on helping professionals and entrepreneurs make informed financial decisions. Her audience includes business owners, expatriates and professionals navigating financial planning in the UAE.
3. Kartik Iyer – @financial.wingman · Personal Finance & Investing, UAE
Kartik Iyer creates educational content focused on investing, wealth creation and financial literacy, translating complex financial principles into straightforward advice for everyday investors. His background as a CFA Charterholder adds credibility to content covering markets, portfolios and long-term investing. His audience largely consists of young professionals beginning their investment journey across the UAE.
4. Sophia Bhatti – @sophiabwealth · Wealth Management, UAE
Sophia Bhatti shares insights into wealth management, investment strategy and long-term financial planning, drawing on years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals and families. Her content focuses on preserving and growing wealth rather than short-term market trends. Her audience includes affluent professionals, business owners and investors seeking sophisticated financial advice.
5. Keren Bobker – @financialuae · Personal Finance, UAE
Keren Bobker has become one of the UAE’s most trusted voices in personal finance through years of financial advisory work and regular commentary on household money management. Her content addresses budgeting, retirement planning, debt management and broader financial wellbeing. Her audience spans working professionals, families and expatriates seeking practical financial guidance tailored to life in the UAE.
6. Sandeep Jadwani – @sandeep_investmentadvisor · Investment Advisory, UAE
Sandeep Jadwani produces content centered on investment strategy, portfolio management and market trends, leveraging decades of experience in financial advisory services. His commentary frequently explores macroeconomic developments and their implications for investors. His audience includes experienced investors, executives and wealth-conscious professionals throughout the UAE.
7. William Jones – @will_investment_advisor · Investing & Wealth Creation, UAE
William Jones focuses on helping individuals build long-term wealth through disciplined investing and financial education. His content covers investment principles, financial independence and strategies for creating sustainable wealth over time. His audience primarily consists of professionals and aspiring investors looking to strengthen their financial future.
8. Wali Khan – @wali_2k · Personal Finance, UAE
Wali Khan creates educational content designed for younger professionals, covering budgeting, investing, productivity and financial discipline. His approachable style makes personal finance more accessible for audiences beginning their wealth-building journey. His community reflects a digitally native generation increasingly focused on financial independence and smarter money management.
9. Maria Jameel – @investmentwithmj · Investment & Wealth, UAE
Maria Jameel shares investment-focused content centered on wealth creation, financial opportunities and long-term portfolio growth. Her educational approach encourages individuals to make informed financial decisions while exploring different investment strategies. Her audience includes aspiring investors, entrepreneurs and professionals interested in expanding their investment knowledge.
10. Luiz Claudio – @iamcryptoguy · Crypto & Macro Investing, UAE
Luiz Claudio creates content exploring cryptocurrency markets alongside broader macroeconomic and investment trends. Drawing on more than 15 years of finance experience, he explains digital assets within the wider context of global investing rather than treating crypto as a standalone market. His audience includes technology-focused investors and individuals following alternative asset classes across the UAE.
The finance content ecosystem serving Dubai and Doha has matured significantly — and unevenly. The best creators have evolved from lifestyle-adjacent business commentary into genuine financial education: specific to jurisdiction, calibrated for a financially sophisticated international audience, and consequential for the real decisions their followers make. Kanebridge News ME covers the same territory editorially. These are the ten voices whose audiences it should be in conversation with.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Following the devastation of recent flooding, experts are urging government intervention to drive the cessation of building in areas at risk.
Gold recovered above the US$4,000 mark after last week’s pullback, but analysts say the correction is masking a deeper shift in global demand. While short-term investors have reduced exposure, central banks and long-term buyers—particularly in China—continue to increase their gold holdings, reinforcing gold’s role as a strategic reserve asset.
2 min
Gold has climbed back above the psychologically important US$4,000 level after briefly falling below it last week. While prices remain modestly lower year-to-date and around 25% below January’s record high, the recent correction masks a significant shift in who is selling and who is buying, according to Nagham Hassan, Market Analyst at etoro.
“The recent weakness in gold has been driven primarily by changing interest rate expectations rather than a deterioration in the long-term investment case,” said Hassan. “Higher US real yields and a stronger dollar have weighed on prices, prompting selling from Western investors and futures traders. At the same time, central banks and long-term buyers, particularly in China, have continued accumulating physical gold.”
According to the World Gold Council, global gold ETFs have returned to net outflows, while COMEX open interest has fallen to its lowest level since 2009, highlighting reduced speculative positioning in the market.
However, official demand remains robust. The People’s Bank of China added 15 tonnes of gold in June, marking its largest monthly purchase since October 2023 and extending its buying streak to 20 consecutive months, taking official holdings to 2,346 tonnes.
The World Gold Council’s 2026 Central Bank Survey further reinforces this trend. Nearly 89% of reserve managers expect global central bank gold reserves to increase over the next year, while a record 45% plan to increase their own holdings. Gold has now overtaken US Treasuries as a share of global official reserves, with almost three-quarters of surveyed central banks expecting the US dollar’s share of reserves to continue declining over the next five years.
“This tells us that the de-dollarisation trend remains firmly in place,” Hassan added. “While short-term traders have reduced exposure, long-term institutional buyers continue viewing gold as a strategic reserve asset.”
China signals a growing focus on physical gold
Recent developments in China also point to a changing market structure. Several major Chinese banks, including ICBC, have announced they will discontinue retail paper and leveraged gold trading on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after 24 July 2026, while leaving physical gold ownership unaffected.
“Taken alongside Hong Kong’s continued expansion of physical vault capacity, these developments suggest an increasing emphasis on physical ownership rather than paper exposure,” Hassan explained.
Investor behaviour within China is also evolving. Chinese equity ETFs have experienced larger outflows than gold ETFs, while the Huaan Yifu Gold ETF has become China’s largest exchange-traded fund, overtaking the CSI 300 ETF for the first time.
Technical picture remains mixed
For active traders, Hassan notes that gold remains in a corrective phase.
“Gold continues to trade below a declining trendline while forming lower highs. The immediate support zone lies between US$3,958 and US$3,896. Holding this range could support a rebound, while a sustained break below would expose stronger support around US$3,513.”
On the upside, she says the first key resistance remains the descending trendline, followed by the 200-day moving average near US$4,493, which would need to be reclaimed to improve the medium-term outlook.
Long-term demand remains intact
Despite near-term volatility, Hassan believes the underlying structural story for gold remains positive.
“The current correction reflects changing expectations around interest rates more than changing conviction in gold itself. While Western investors have reduced exposure, central banks continue accumulating physical bullion at record levels, and Chinese investors are increasingly favouring physical ownership. The composition of gold buyers is changing, and that shift could prove more important than today’s price movements.”
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Kuwait’s annual inflation rate rose 2.19% in June, driven by higher prices for food, transport, healthcare, education, clothing, and other consumer goods, according to official data. Food and beverages saw the largest increase at 5.55%, while miscellaneous goods and services climbed 5.8%.
< 1 min
Kuwait’s consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, increased by 2.19% year-on-year at the end of June, driven by higher prices across several main expenditure groups, official data showed on Monday.
The Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) said the annual inflation rate was mainly attributed to increases in the prices of food, healthcare, clothing, education, and miscellaneous goods and services.
According to the data, carried by KUNA, the food and beverages group recorded the highest annual increase, rising 5.55% compared with June 2025, while tobacco and cigarette prices remained unchanged.
The clothing and footwear index rose 0.89% year-on-year, while housing services increased 0.16%. Prices for household furnishings and maintenance climbed 1.11%, and the healthcare index advanced 1.03%.
The transport group posted a notable annual increase of 4.83%, while communications prices rose 1.03%. Recreation and culture recorded a 1.13% increase, and education prices were up 1.02%.
The CSB added that restaurant and hotel prices increased by 0.22% annually, while miscellaneous goods and services registered a 5.8% rise.
New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
Second-quarter earnings are beating expectations at one of the fastest rates in years, with major banks leading the way. But as markets set a higher bar, company outlooks are proving just as important as financial results. While strong guidance is rewarding stocks, cautious forecasts from companies like Citigroup and IBM have triggered sharp market reactions, highlighting a growing focus on future growth over past performance.
2 min
The second-quarter earnings season has begun with expectations at their highest level in years. Analysts expect S&P 500 profits to grow around 23.6% from a year ago. What makes that unusual is that analysts normally trim their forecasts as a quarter unfolds. This time they raised them, and more companies issued upbeat guidance than at any point in a decade.
The early results are clearing that bar. Nearly nine in ten of the first companies to report have beaten their earnings forecasts. FactSet’s model, based on how reporting seasons typically unfold, suggests actual growth could land near 29%, the strongest since late 2021.
Nagham Hassan, Market Analyst at eToro, said: “This earnings season is showing that beating estimates alone is no longer enough. Expectations have been raised significantly, meaning investors are placing far greater weight on what management says about the quarters ahead. Markets are increasingly rewarding confidence and future growth, rather than simply strong historical results.”
The banks opened the season strongly. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs all beat estimates, with Goldman delivering the strongest surprise. Trading revenues benefited from heightened market volatility following geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while investment banking continued to gain momentum amid record levels of merger and acquisition activity. Softer-than-expected US inflation data also supported investor sentiment, helping shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan move higher following their results.
Citigroup, however, highlighted how sensitive markets have become to forward guidance. Despite posting its strongest quarterly revenue in a decade and comfortably beating expectations, the stock declined after management maintained its full-year profitability target of 10–11%, despite already generating a 13% return on equity during the quarter.
“Citigroup’s reaction demonstrates that guidance is now driving share price performance more than the earnings beat itself. When expectations are already high, investors need reassurance that strong performance can continue.”
IBM illustrated the same theme from the opposite direction. The company narrowly missed expectations in its preliminary results and saw its shares fall sharply after management said customers had accelerated hardware purchases ahead of expected price increases, leaving less spending available for its mainframe business.
The impact extended well beyond IBM. Shares of Accenture, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Adobe also came under pressure as investors questioned whether higher spending on hardware could begin weighing on enterprise software budgets. While some of those stocks recovered part of their losses, the market is still assessing whether the weakness reflects a company-specific issue or a broader shift in technology spending.
Looking ahead, the energy sector is expected to deliver the strongest earnings growth this quarter, supported by oil prices remaining above last year’s levels. Technology is forecast to follow, driven largely by semiconductor companies. Meanwhile, the Magnificent Seven are still expected to outpace the broader market, although by a much narrower margin than in previous quarters, contributing to increased investor interest in sectors such as financials and healthcare.
“The busiest weeks of earnings season are still ahead, but the early pattern is already clear. Companies need to do more than outperform forecasts—they need to convince investors that momentum will continue. In this environment, outlooks are proving just as important as the numbers themselves.”
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
The IMF has praised the UAE’s economic resilience following its latest consultation visit, highlighting the country’s strong financial system, effective policy response, and ability to withstand regional geopolitical challenges. The Fund also commended the UAE’s banking sector, fiscal strength, and proactive measures that continue to support economic stability and investor confidence.
3 min
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team concluded its visit to the UAE, which took place from 7th to 16th July 2026.
The visit included discussions on the latest economic and financial developments, the future outlook, and the policy priorities of the relevant authorities, as well as preparations for the 2026 Article IV Consultation Mission.
Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Governor for the UAE at the IMF, emphasised the importance of the consultations in strengthening communication, exchanging views on the latest economic and financial developments in the UAE, and discussing priorities of mutual interest during the meeting His Excellency chaired with the IMF staff team.
Balama said, “These consultations provide an important platform for strengthening our existing cooperation with the IMF and exchanging views on the latest developments and future priorities. We also value the close cooperation among the relevant entities in the UAE and remain committed to reinforcing monetary and financial stability, while strengthening the financial system’s preparedness and capacity to keep pace with the regional and global changes and developments. The positive outcomes of the visit reaffirm the resilience of the UAE economy and the soundness of its financial sector.”
The IMF staff team commended the notable resilience demonstrated by the UAE economy amid geopolitical developments in the Middle East, supported by sound economic fundamentals, ample buffers, in addition to swift response and targeted support measures.
Said Bakhache, Head of the IMF staff team, said, “The UAE economy has demonstrated significant resilience amid the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. Sound fundamentals, ample policy buffers, advanced preparedness, and a swift policy response have contained the overall impact of the shock. The authorities’ timely and well-targeted support measures have helped preserve financial stability, safeguard essential supply chains, support affected sectors and households, and sustain market confidence, underscoring the UAE’s institutional capacity to navigate a major external shock.”
The staff team confirmed that the UAE banking sector maintains strong levels of capital and liquidity, with credit continuing to grow, supported by the robust financial positions established by banks ahead of the regional developments.
The staff team also highlighted the role of the CBUAE’s “Proactive Financial Institution Resilience Package”, launched in mid-March, in supporting financial sector stability, enhancing the preparedness of financial institutions, and enabling them to continue their operations and deliver services efficiently.
The staff team noted that the resilience of trade, aviation and logistics activities, together with the continued strength of domestic demand, supported economic activity and limit the impact of regional developments. The staff team also expects the fiscal balance to remain in surplus, supported by higher oil prices, a forward-looking approach to budgeting and strong policymaking, while low levels of public debt provide ample fiscal space.
The CBUAE led the national working group responsible for the visit, managed strategic coordination with federal and local entities, and prepared the work programme.
In preparation for the visit, the CBUAE organised a workshop for the relevant entities, during which the objectives of the consultations were presented, thereby enhancing the entities’ preparedness and ensuring coordinated participation.
The staff team’s visit to the CBUAE also included a tour of the Cybersecurity Operations Centre, where it was briefed on the CBUAE’s cybersecurity framework and the mechanisms used to leverage artificial intelligence to enhance operational efficiency, support risk management and develop institutional capabilities.
At the conclusion of the visit, Khaled Mohamed Balama chaired the closing meeting of the staff team, during which the key outcomes of the meetings were reviewed and the latest developments were discussed.
He directed that the existing cooperation with the IMF be continued, coordination among national entities be strengthened, and the outcomes of the visit to support the strength and competitiveness of the UAE’s economic and financial ecosystem.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Wall Street’s biggest banks are on track for record trading revenues in 2026, fueled by booming investor activity, surging AI-driven markets, and record stock trading volumes. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup could collectively generate around $180 billion in trading revenue if the current pace continues.
4 min
Investors can’t stop piling more money into stock-market bets. Wall Street is making a killing on it.
JPMorgan Chase JPM 1.17%increase; Goldman Sachs GS 1.06%increase; and the other three biggest banks on Wall Street are on pace to have their best trading years ever, after a second-quarter boom in activity.
In the past, such gargantuan hauls for trading desks have been a sign of turmoil in the markets. For several banks, the previous record-trading year was 2009, when the market was going haywire.
This time around, stocks are near all-time highs, volumes are up and individuals can’t get enough action, even as wars and artificial-intelligence exuberance keep investors on their toes. Massive hedge funds, from quant firms to multimanager giants, trade at rapid clips, as do individuals who have crowded into ever more high-octane fare such as short-dated options and turbocharged exchange-traded funds. Even the president has accounts making thousands of trades a quarter.
Together, JPMorgan, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup are on track to log some $180 billion in trading revenue in 2026 if they continue at their current pace, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
“Clearly markets revenues in general have been quite elevated and strong for some time,” JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum told analysts. “The market is clearly extremely risk-on, and we’re kind of takers of that.”
Others on the street have benefited, too. Citadel Securities, a large market maker, brought in a record $4.3 billion in trading revenue in the first quarter. The company saw record average daily volumes of stocks traded by individual investors in May and June, with volumes more than double levels seen in 2024, according to Scott Rubner, head of equity and equity derivatives strategy at Citadel Securities.
And BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, gathered another $192 billion in assets during the last three months, bringing it to a record $15 trillion, as its clients pour funds into investing.
“I’m very optimistic on the outlook for global markets,” CEO Larry Fink said.
For the big banks, trading was the standout even in a banner start to the year. Second-quarter revenue from markets was up about 38% for the group of the biggest banks from a year earlier; it increased 33% at Bank of America, 54% at Goldman Sachs and 35% at JPMorgan.
Banks’ clients appeared especially interested in stock bets, where the group’s revenue shot up 71% from a year ago. JPMorgan’s equities markets revenue was up 86%, while Goldman’s was up 72%.
“Everything is good and equity trading is off the charts,” wrote Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski.
The figures put Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on track to surpass their previous annual records for trading revenue for the first time since just after the financial crisis.
Shares of Goldman, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America each hit all-time highs this week, as did their benchmark index, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index. And JPMorgan is close to becoming the first U.S. bank to surpass $1 trillion in market value.
The banks are benefiting from a marketwide surge as their trading desks facilitate buying and selling of stocks, bonds, commodities and foreign currencies on behalf of clients, earning a fee in the process.
U.S. average daily trading volumes of options and equities reached records of around 73 million contracts and 20 billion shares, respectively, during the second quarter, according to Jackson Gutenplan, market structure research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
There have been plenty of reasons for investors to keep trading. The AI frenzy has helped the S&P 500 index notch 24 record closes this year. The initial public offering of SpaceX, the biggest IPO ever, saw explosive demand from investors, while volumes of options tied to SpaceX broke records within hours of their debut. Strong earnings growth and a resilient economy have kept everyday Americans in the stock market and off the sidelines.
Executives and analysts say that institutional clients are now constantly repositioning their portfolios reacting to major geopolitical events and dramatic market volatility, seeking to cash in on big gains and protect themselves from a potential drop. A fervor for AI stocks and related industries has also been a boon.
Goldman’s CFO Denis Coleman pointed to elevated market dispersion, or the divergence between the performance of individual stocks. Single-stock volatility recently rose to levels not seen since the end stages of the dot-com bubble in the 1990s, spurred by violent swings in tech stocks such as Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices, according to analysts at Bank of America Global Research.
While moves in stock indexes have been relatively calm, trading has been more frenzied at the single-stock level, an environment that has led clients to seek help in managing their portfolios, Coleman said on the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America CEO, attributed the surge in stock-trading revenues to the AI boom, including an increase in activity in Asian markets. “A lot of it over the last 12 months has been the buildup of AI, especially outside the United States, and the activity of those markets picking up,” he said Tuesday on CNBC.
Banks get vanishingly small margins on each trade, and they have been continuing to compress in recent years—meaning desks now are pushing to increase volumes in order to boost revenue.
Banks have also been extending more loans to trading clients so that they can make bigger bets.
Goldman Sachs reported that equities financing revenue was up 91% in the second quarter from the prior year, outpacing its business facilitating trades for clients and setting a quarterly record. JPMorgan said it dedicated more of its balance sheet to financing equity trades.
Corrections & Amplifications
Bank of America’s trading revenue rose 33% in the second quarter from a year ago, while the group of five big banks saw a roughly 38% increase. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Bank of America’s revenue rose 64%, leading the whole group to rise by about 42%.
New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
