Thursday 11 August 2011

MENA stock markets close - August 11, 2011


Exchange
Status IndexChange
TASI (Saudi Stock Market)
6039.320.51%
DFM (Dubai Financial Market)
14640.21%
ADX (Abudhabi Securities Exchange)
2588.64-0.53%
KSE (Kuwait Stock Exchange)
5850.6-0.85%
BSE (Bahrain Stock Exchange)
1266.37-0.47%
MSM (Muscat Securities Market)
5426.56-0.82%
QE (Qatar Exchange)
8107.47-0.25%
LSE (Beirut Stock Exchange)
1301.37-0.37%
EGX 30 (Egypt Exchange)
4592.31-1.49%
ASE (Amman Stock Exchange)
2019.61-0.19%
TUNINDEX (Tunisia Stock Exchange)
4367.69-0.64%
CB (Casablanca Stock Exchange)
10980.7-0.29%
PSE (Palestine Securities Exchange)
489.08-0.17%


Kuwait’s Stock Index Retreats to Seven-Year Low on Global Growth Concern - Bloomberg

Persian Gulf shares retreated, sending Kuwait’s benchmark stock index to the lowest level in almost seven years, amid concern Europe will fail to contain its debt crisis, trimming investor appetite for riskier assets.

Combined Group Contracting Co. (CGC), the Kuwaiti construction company, lost 1.2 percent and lender Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) fell for a second day this week. The Kuwait Stock Exchange Unweighted Index dropped 0.9 percent to 5,850.60, the lowest close since Aug. 25, 2004. The measure slumped 3.6 percent this week. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index (BGCC200) of the region’s stocks slipped 0.2 percent. Dubai’s DFM General Index (DFMGI) rose 0.2 percent after losing as much as 1.4 percent earlier.

“Our markets are obviously following the volatility of global markets,” Ahmed Talhaoui, the Abu Dhabi-based head of investment at Royal Capital PJSC, said. “Local markets are entirely at the mercy of the global risk aversion.”

Impact on Gulf most pronounced in banking and petchem sectors

Impact on Gulf most pronounced in banking and petchem sectors

Dubai Gets Bank Loans as Economy Defies Global Rout: Arab Credit - Businessweek

Dubai state companies are securing bank financing as the latest tumult in global markets fails to derail the emirate’s recovery from the 2009 debt crisis.

Dubai Holding LLC, one of the three main state-owned holding companies, reached an accord with lenders to extend a $1.16 billion loan to December 2016, according to a company official. Port & Free Zone World FZE, an intermediate holding company for port operator DP World Ltd., is raising $850 million to refinance debt, three bankers familiar with the plan said. Investment Corporation of Dubai said on Aug. 8 it will repay $4 billion of loans when they mature on Aug. 21.

“Banks are continuing to extend financing to Dubai Inc. because of its improving economy and debt profile,” Gus Chehayeb, a Dubai-based associate director at investment bank Exotix Ltd. said by e-mail yesterday. There is “encouraging evidence with regards to its willingness to repay debt, sell assets, and stay current on its interest payments,” he said.


gulfnews : Deyaar back in black as profits reach Dh44.4m

Deyaar, Dubai's second biggest developer, announced a net profit of Dh44.4 million for the first six months ending June 30.

The results come as a positive boost after the loss of Dh243 million during the same period last year, which the company put it to the writedown on the value of select assets and investments.

Gross revenues for the period grew 48 per cent to Dh480 million compared with Dh325 million in the same period last year.

gulfnews : Dana Gas profit rises 276% to Dh124m

Dana Gas PJSC, the Middle East's private sector natural gas company, has announced its financial results for the quarter ending in June, with a net profit after tax of Dh124 million, a 276 per cent increase compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Revenue from the sale of hydrocarbons increased to Dh627 million during the second quarter, with gross profit reaching Dh341 million. These figures represent increases of 46 per cent and 90 per cent respectively, compared to the same period last year.

This is due to strong production growth coupled with higher market prices for oil, condensate and LPG during 2011. Production increased in aggregate by 20 per cent, from the company's operations in Egypt and in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where production from the Khor Mor field continues to increase.

Oil demand growth to plummet - The National

Growth in oil demand is forecast to fall by as much as 60 per cent next year amid economic turmoil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Yesterday's report from the IEA, the organisation based in Paris that advises 28 major industrialised nations, trimmed crude demand by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) for this year along with decreasing next year's growth prediction.

The price of Brent oil, the European benchmark, briefly rallied yesterday rising to US$107 per barrel after the US announced it would bolster the economy with low interest rates, helping to erase losses from the day before when oil dipped below $100. But by 6pm local time it had slipped back down to $104.

Oman: Bouncing back | Oman Observer

The lifting of a rating agency’s temporary cloud over the Oman economy and a healthy forecast for GDP growth have combined to create an air of optimism in the Sultanate. On July 20 Standard & Poor’s removed Oman from CreditWatch, with the country’s long-term local and foreign currency rating at A, and the short-term rating at A-1.

The exit from the CreditWatch list, which is used to warn bond issuers of the need to address negative factors that could affect their credit ratings, confirms that the country is recovering well from the unrest that affected the region in the first few months of the year.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos responded quickly when Omanis took to the streets demanding more jobs and a higher minimum wage, as well as seeking tougher measures to fight corruption among government workers. The state increased the minimum wage for nationals working in the private sector by 43 per cent to $520 per month and dismissed several government officials, widely praised actions that seem to have met the demands.

“We have removed the ratings from CreditWatch Negative in light of immediate political pressures easing,” Standard & Poor’s said in a statement. “Aside from an isolated killing in Sohar the protests were largely peaceful, and the quick response of His Majesty to protester demands appears to have eased tensions.”

BofA negotiates to sell big China bank stake: sources | Reuters

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has held exploratory talks with the principal investment funds of Kuwait and Qatar about selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank (0939.HK), sources with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.

Bank of America, which owns about 10 percent of CCB's (601939.SS) Hong Kong-listed shares and is scurrying to raise capital for its mortgage-scarred balance sheet, will be contractually free to sell the bank shares after August 29. They are valued at about $17 billion.

The bank, the largest in the US by assets, is likely to sell half its stake in order to shore up its Tier 1 capital. Analysts believe Bank of America needs about $50 billion to meet new capital requirements.

Vegas’s CityCenter Replaces Luxury Condo Buyers with Renters - Developments - WSJ

Turns out CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip is becoming something of a real residential community — just not the way the developers originally envisioned.

That’s because the multi-towered complex has rented out in one- and two-year leases 346 units it once planned to sell as multi-million luxury condos, CityCenter president Bobby Baldwin said on a conference call Monday afternoon. The $9 billion complex, with luxury condos, hotel rooms, gambling and retail, is owned by MGM Resorts International and Dubai World.

Anthony Phillips, a Las Vegas real-estate agent, has helped people sign leases in Veer towers, designed by renowned architect Helmut Jahn, for as little as $1,390 a month. The units in the sloping yellow towers include a rooftop pool, exercise room, a resident’s lounge and full concierge. Now most of those go for $1,600 to $1,700 a month while two-bedrooms are $2,300 a month, Mr. Phillips said.

gulfnews : Tamweel in debt market for first time since 2008

Tamweel PJSC, the mortgage company majority owned by Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, plans to tap the debt market this year for the first time since 2008 as demand for Islamic bonds keeps borrowing costs near six-year lows.

Tamweel will issue either a benchmark-sized sukuk or a mortgage-backed security in the fourth quarter to create a, 'long-term financing pipeline to repay liabilities and grow the business,' acting chief executive officer Varun Sood said. Tamweel has appointed banks for the transaction, he said, declining to identify them.

'We're being advised that it's a good time to go to the market in spite of the financial turmoil,' he said in an interview at Tamweel's headquarters in Dubai yesterday. 'Maybe there would be some impact on pricing, but there's still demand for Islamic financing instruments.'