Money roundup

A few of the biggest companies are carrying the S&P 500.

The stocks doing the heavy lifting

The S&P 500 is sitting less than 2 per cent off of its all-time high, and much of that is thanks to a few of the biggest companies in the index hitting new highs of their own. Only 14 stocks in the index touched new 52-week highs on Monday, but three of them are in the top five in terms of market cap, meaning they make up a larger portion of the index. “Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook, which rank as the second, third, and fifth largest publicly traded US companies and represent more than US$1.4 trillion in market cap, all hit new 52-week highs,” Bespoke Investment Group said on Tuesday.

Biggest life events affecting our finances

Loss of a parent, university costs and buying a home are seen as the biggest financially impacting events in the lifetime of a UAE resident, according to new research from HSBC. In The Power of Protection, the bank analysed people's attitudes to big life events and found getting married (64 per cent), having a baby (55 per cent) and starting a business (55 per cent) are considered the biggest life-changing occurrences.

ADIB launches Booking.com credit cards

Customers who sign up for ADIB’s new Booking.com Visa Signature Card and Booking.com Visa Infinite card, launched this week, will automatically be upgraded to Genius status on the online travel site to receive preferential rates and discounts. The cards also offer cashback and airport lounge access.

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