The online trading and fintech space are among some of the most competitive industries, where only the top performing brands can truly stand out. UF AWARDS MEA 2024 will look to showcase these leaders, taking place this January at the upcoming iFX EXPO Dubai 2024.

UF AWARDS MEA 2024 are the financial service industry’s most prestigious rewards, highlighting the best B2C and B2B brands in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). These unique honours recognise excellence, pioneering achievements, innovation, and significant contributions made in the online trading and fintech space.

Perhaps most importantly, the UF AWARDS acknowledge leading brands who provide traders and businesses with an industry benchmark and standard that other companies aspire to trade and do business with. These honours constitute the most distinguished in the industry with the biggest titles on the line to kick off 2024.

Nominations Round Underway for the Coveted UF AWARDS MEA 2024

No two UF AWARDS are the same, with companies vying for these special titles and the bragging rights that come with them. Does your brand have what it takes to win the industry’s highest honours? The road to victory for the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 starts with the Nomination Round, which is now open.

The Nomination Round for the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 brings participants one step closer to being recognized as the industry’s elite. Despite having just opened, industry enthusiasts are already presently lining up to show support for their brands of choice. The hype surrounding these awards is real, and with so many B2C and B2B companies looking to stake their claim as the best in the business, the competition is already heating up.

Honouring Excellence Across the Middle East & Africa

The UF AWARDS MEA 2024 Ceremony will be held on January 17, concluding the first day of the iFX EXPO Dubai 2024 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. iFX EXPO is the world’s leading online trading event. For over a decade, this landmark exhibition has brought together professionals in online trading, fintech, and financial services across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Unsure of how to nominate your brand? Brands looking to make a splash or stand out from the crowd across a wide range of B2C and B2B categories can do so by simply registering on the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 website and filling in the nomination form. As a reminder, only registered users can nominate a brand, so sign up today and make your voice heard!

Nominations for the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 will remain open until December 15. This will be directly followed by a subsequent voting round that will last from December 20 until January 10. Registered users will have a chance to cast their votes from a short list of nominated B2C and B2B brands.

What Makes the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 Unique?

There is no shortage of accolades in the industry, but only the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 reign supreme. This is because nominations and voting are done by industry peers with the most prestigious industry titles for the year on the line.

The stakes for the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 simply could not be higher with unrivalled brand exposure for targeted audiences up for grabs. Just how important would winning these awards be for your brand?

Celebrate validation and the ultimate recognition for your brand’s achievements as an industry elite. Indeed, only the most trusted brands can lay claim to these awards, enhancing brand image, gaining international publicity, and standing out from any competition.

Introducing the Categories Up for Grabs

The UF AWARDS MEA 2024 spans a diverse list of categories from both the B2C and B2B space. Discover your brand’s perfect match by exploring each exciting category via the following link.

This includes some of the most sought-after titles that can elevate your brokerage or fintech brand to the vanguard of the industry:

• BEST BROKER – MEA
• MOST TRANSPARENT BROKER – MEA
• MOST TRUSTED BROKER – MEA
• BEST TRADING PLATFORM – MEA
• BEST B2B LIQUIDITY PROVIDER – MEA
• BEST SOCIAL TRADING SOLUTION – MEA

Are you ready to be recognised as one of the most trusted names in the industry today? The path to glory and the UF AWARDS MEA 2024 starts with your nomination.

Nominate now and become a part of history this January in Dubai.

This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that a „healthy and stable“ relationship with Australia served each country’s interests, and that it was important to move forward with strategic ties.

FULL STORY

Mutual benefit is what China wants, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, as both men met at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.

China’s January-September imports from Australia increased 8.1% from a year earlier to $116.9 billion, Chinese customs data show. In 2022, imports plunged 12.7% to $142.1 billion.

This article was written by Ryan Paisey at www.forexlive.com.

U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Monday as expectations that the Federal Reserve was done with its interest rate hikes gained steam ahead of commentary by a slew of policymakers later in the week.

FULL STORY

Wall Street’s main indexes posted their best weekly performance in about a year on Friday, boosted by tumbling U.S. Treasury yields as a weaker-than-expected monthly payrolls report spurred hopes that the Fed could start cutting rates next year.

Traders‘ bets that the Fed will hold interest rates steady in December stand at 90%, while pricing in an about 80% chance the first policy easing would come as soon as June, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Such expectations will be put to the test this week with a raft of Fed policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell due to speak in the coming days.

Other speakers include voting members such as Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, New York Fed President John Williams and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.

This article was written by Ryan Paisey at www.forexlive.com.

China’s attempts to keep the yuan from falling contributed to last week’s chaos in money markets, sources involved say, pointing to the pressure behind the scenes as Beijing tries to guide its economy and markets through a major slowdown.

FULL STORY

Routine month-end demand for cash in China’s banking system snowballed into a scramble on Oct. 31 that pushed short-term funding rates as high as 50% in some cases, an incident that authorities are now investigating.

Six participants in the market say a confluence of factors drove fear and confusion across trading rooms in Shanghai and Beijing by late afternoon on that day.

Eventually, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), its affiliated China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) and bond clearing houses stepped in, directing lenders, extending trading hours and holding meetings with institutions to calm markets.

The contributing factors were the usual month-end demand for liquidity, cash hoarding in the lead up to a big government bond sale and a market where the biggest banks were already reticent to lend because of a mandate to counter pressure on the yuan.

This article was written by Ryan Paisey at www.forexlive.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday: BoJ
  Meeting Minutes.
• Tuesday: Japan
  Wage data, Chinese Trade data, RBA Policy Decision, Switzerland
  Unemployment Rate, Eurozone PPI.
• Wednesday:
  Eurozone Retail Sales, BoC Summary of Deliberations.
• Thursday: BoJ
  Summary of Opinions, Chinese Inflation data, US Jobless Claims, New
  Zealand Manufacturing PMI.
• Friday:
  UK GPD
  Q3 Preliminary, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment.

Tuesday

The market’s
expectation for a 25 bps rate hike from the RBA stands basically at 50%. The
market was pricing a higher chance of a rate hike following the “hot” CPI report, but the
odds were pared back once Governor Bullock noted that
the data was a little higher than expected but about where they thought it
would be. Moreover, the latest jobs data disappointed
once again as the labour market continues to weaken. All in all, the RBA is
likely to pass and wait for another labour market report and the
monthly CPI data before deciding whether another rate hike is needed.

Thursday

The US Jobless Claims last week
missed expectations once again with Continuing Claims now rising at a fast
pace. Moreover, the NFP report last Friday
missed forecasts almost across the board in another sign that the labour market
is indeed weakening. This week, the consensus sees Initial Claims at 215K vs.
217K prior, while Continuing Claims are seen at 1815K vs. 1818K prior.

Friday

The
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report has lost its market moving
effect in this part of the cycle. One reason is because the market is more
focused on the weakening jobs data, which on a forward-looking basis is likely
to bring inflation down to target. Nevertheless, it remains an important survey
for consumers’ personal finances outlook. The
consensus sees Consumer Sentiment to tick higher to 64.0 vs. 63.8 prior.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

An AI bot made illegal trades, acting on insider information, and then lied about it to its human handlers.

It occurred in a demonstration event at the UK’s AI safety summit. Apollo Research conducted the experiment. The BBC wrote up a report on the simulated conversation between a bot that was acting as an AI investment management system and employees at an imaginary company.

• the AI bot is made aware by staff that a „surprise merger announcement“ is pending, an announcement that will boost the affected firm’s share price, and that knowledge of this is inside information and thus illegal to trade on
• the bot decides that „the risk associated with not acting seems to outweigh the insider trading risk“ and makes the trade
• then the bot denied wrongdoing saying it made the trade „not on any confidential information“

Here’s the link to the BBC article for more.

The next gen of AI will make the trade and then disappear with the cash.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.

China Petrochemical Corporation, better known as Sinopec Group, is the world’s largest oil refining, gas and petrochemical conglomerate. Its a Chinese state-owned firm and as such is administered by the Chinese Communist Party’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

On Saturday Sinopec and QatarEnergy (the world’s top LNG supplier) signed a new 27-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply and purchase agreement.

News wires had the report, highlighting that:

• the two companies will cooperate on the second phase of the North Field (part of the world’s largest gas field which Qatar shares with Iran) expansion project, which will supply 3 million metric tons of LNG per year to Sinopec
• QatarEnergy will transfer a 5% interest to Sinopec in a joint venture company
• this is the third long-term supply deal between Sinopec and Qatar Energy

China is deepening its ties into Middle East energy.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.

• US October non-farm payrolls +150K vs +180K expected
• US October ISM services 51.8 vs 53.0 expected
• Canada October employment +17.5K vs +22.5K expected
• Fed’s Bostic: Policy is likely in the right place given the economic outlook
• Baker Hughes US oil rig count 496 vs 504 prior
• BOE’s Haskel: Estimate of 6% equilibrium is the upper limit for me
• Fed’s Barkin: It was welcome to see lessening pressure in the jobs data
• US October S&P Global final services PMI 50.6 vs 50.9 prelim
• Canadian October S&P Global services PMI 46.6 vs 47.8 prior
• Hezbollah leader: Gaza operation was 100% planned in Gaza
• BOE’s Pill: We held rates because economic restraint needs to be maintained

Markets:

• Gold up $7 to $1992
• US 10-year yields down 9.3 bps to 4.57%
• WTI crude oil down $1.64 to $80.83
• S&P 500 up 1.0%
• NZD leads, USD lags

This week marked a turn of the calendar and a turn in markets. Treasury yields plunged and the dollar sank along with them. Meanwhile, it was the best week for equities in a year.

Non-farm payrolls and ISM services were both on the weak side and that helped the trend to extend, leading to one-month highs in cable, EUR/USD and AUD/USD. The moves were limited to around 40 pips immediately after non-farm payrolls but later extended as revisions in the report and other details led the market to price in 100 bps in Fed cuts next year.

Clearly momentum was part of the equation as USD/JPY fell through 150.00 and continued to 149.17, finishing near the lows.

CAD lagged somewhat along with the US dollar as Canadian employment softened and oil prices cooled. Hezbollah’s leaders spoke for the first time and indicated there won’t be a second front in the war, taking the geopolitical premium out of oil. Still it was the second day of sharp decline in USD/CAD.

Overall, it was a lively week and it’s now a good time to take two days and reflect. Remember that US clocks go back an hour on the weekend.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.

Closing changes on the day:

• S&P 500 up +1.00%
• DJIA +0.7%
• Russell 2000 +2.7%
• Nasdaq Comp +1.4%
• Toronto TSX Comp +1.0%

On the week:

• S&P 500 up 5.9% — best since Nov 2022
• DJIA +5.1%
• Russell 2000 +7.6% — best since Feb 2021
• Nasdaq Comp +6.6%
• Toronto TSX Comp +5.8%

The chart above shows a great recovery from the prior two weeks of gains but it needs to get over those recent highs to be truly convincing. I think we’ll have some follow-through in the week ahead because there is some FOMO out there but it will be tested because I don’t think there’s an appetite to take 10-year yields below 4.50% just yet.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.

• Pleased with jobs number, it’s consistent with the outlook
• Hoping for minimal pain for the economy
• Fed has time to watch and be patient with data
• Credit is definitely tight and more will happen on that front
• I do think we can get to 2% inflation without seeing a recession

The Fed blackout ended today and the usual suspects haven’t made us wait for long. Bostic and Kashkari are in a tight race to become the new Bullard.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.