(Corrects first paragraph to show yields rose not fell)Cairo, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's three- and nine-month treasury bills rose at an auction on Sunday, central bank data showed.Yields on the 91-day bills rose to 19.223 percent from 18.770 at the last sale a week earlier, while yields on the 266-day bills also rose to 18.754 percent from 18.097 percent. (Reporting by Nadine A...Read More

(Corrects first paragraph to show yields rose not fell)CAIRO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's five- and 10-year treasury bonds rose at an auction on Sunday, central bank data showed.The average yield on the five-year bond rose to 15.856 percent from 15.728 percent at the last similar auction. The average yield on the 10-year bond rose to 16.025 percent from 15.740 percent. (Reporting...Read More

* Geopolitics, slumping economic growth weighed on Gulf bourses* Saudi index edged up just 0.2 pct in year, Dubai fell 4.6 pct* Valuations, higher state spending should help markets in 2018* Saudi's National Commercial Bank surges on bonus share issue* Dar Al Arkan pulls back after news of unit's IPO plan By Andrew TorchiaDUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Middle Eastern stock markets far underperformed t...Read More

(Recasts with 2017 data, adds details)By Steven ScheerTEL AVIV, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Israel's economic growth slowed in 2017 to 3 percent due to weaker consumer spending and investment, provisional data showed on Sunday, although a slight pickup is expected in 2018.The provisional estimate from the Central Bureau of Statistics was based on nine to 11 months of data and was well below a growth rate...Read More

FRANKFURT, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Siemens will test the appetite of sovereign wealth funds ahead of the planned listing of its healthcare unit Healthineers next year, its chief executive told a German weekly, possibly to secure anchor investors for the flotation.The listing of a minority of the unit, which makes X-ray and MRI machines, is set to take place in the first half of 2018 and is expected to...Read More

TEL AVIV, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Israel's economy grew an annualised 3.5 percent in the third quarter, slower than previously thought on a much smaller gain in exports, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.In a preliminary estimate last month, the bureau said gross domestic product grew an annualised 4.1 percent, faster than the average forecast of 2.5 percent in a Reuters poll.Growth in th...Read More

DAKAR, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Congolese security forces shot dead two men in the capital Kinshasa on Sunday during protests against President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down from office, Human Rights Watch said. The two men were killed outside St. Alphonse church in Kinshasa's Matete district, the advocacy group's Central Africa director, Ida Sawyer, told Reuters. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Edit...Read More

Cairo, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Egypt will keep its customs exchange rate steady at 16 pounds per dollar for January, the finance ministry said on Sunday."The decision is consistent with the currency price stabilization in the past period," it said in a statement.Egypt began setting a monthly fixed customs exchange rate in January, following the flotation of its pound currency in November 2016...Read More

WINDHOEK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Namibia's stock of foreign reserves declined at the end of November to a five-month low of 28.5 billion Namibian dollars($2.31 billion), according to central bank monetary and banking statistics seen by Reuters on Sunday.The level of international reserves declined from 31.6 billion Namibian dollars ($2.56 billion) at the end of October, mainly due to exchange rate flu...Read More

BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - China will maintain prudent monetary policy and reasonable loan growth in 2018, central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said in comments published on Sunday.In a new year's message, Governor Zhou said that in 2017 the People's Bank of China (PBOC) had strengthened macro-economic controls, deepened financial reform, prevented systemic financial risks and promoted finance to se...Read More

(Updates death toll)KINSHASA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Congolese security forces killed at least four people on Sunday during protests against President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down from office, according to the police and rights groups. Three people were killed in altercations with security forces in the capital, Kinshasa, police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said. Rights groups said at least t...Read More

(Updates death toll)KINSHASA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Congolese security forces killed at least four people on Sunday during protests against President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down from office, according to the police and rights groups. Three people were killed in altercations with security forces in the capital, Kinshasa, police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said. Rights groups said at least t...Read More

Anti-government demonstrations take place in cities across Iran, the biggest in nearly a decade.Read full newsRead More

KINSHASA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Congolese police and soldiers on Sunday set up checkpoints across the capital Kinshasa and fired teargas at opposition supporters outside a church where they had gathered to prevent planned protests against President Joseph Kabila. Authorities ordered internet and SMS services cut in response to calls by Catholic activists to march after Sunday mass. The activists are...Read More

Some 36,000 homes and businesses in British Columbia lost power due to ice storms in western Canada on Saturday, and workers rushed to restore service before nightfall as forecasters predicted extremely cold temperatures across the nation.Read full newsRead More

DUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB), the kingdom's largest lender, said on Sunday its board had proposed increasing the bank's capital by 10 billion riyals ($2.7 billion) through issuing bonus shares to help support growth.In a statement to the Saudi stock market, NCB said it will increase its capital to 30 billion riyals from retained earnings, by issuing one b...Read More

DUBAI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The Qatar central bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity rose slightly in November, official data showed on Sunday, as capital outflows caused by sanctions imposed by other Arab states appeared to ease.The reserves and liquidity, a measure of the central bank's ability to support the riyal currency, increased to $36.9 billion last month from $36.1 bi...Read More

Not the place you would think.Read full newsRead More

By Sinead CarewDec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are expected to keep rising in 2018 because a massive drop in the corporate tax rate is seen boosting the economy and corporate profits, but strategists say sizable gains could either be short-lived or elusive.The bull market is on track to mark its ninth birthday in March, with the S&P 500 climbing 20 percent for 2017 - its biggest increase since...Read More

Street protests hit Iran for a third day running on Saturday, spreading to the capital Tehran with crowds confronting police and attacking some state buildings, and a social media report said two demonstrators had been shot dead in a provincial town.Read full newsRead More