UAE business sees robust growth in January

UAE's non-oil private sector has achieved a growth in business activity in January after slipping to a four-month low in the previous month, according to a purchasing manager’s survey. The HSBC UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures the performance of the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 52.4 points last month from 51.7 in December. The adjusted index remains above the 50-point mark which separates growth from contraction, the survey of 400 private sector firms showed. UAE firms saw a robust rise in new orders at the start of 2012, reaching 57.5 points in January after a fall to a four-month low of 56.0 in December. Non-oil private sector companies registered a solid increase in output in January, the data showed: the second-fastest in the last six months.