Sunday 18 September 2011

MENA stock markets close - September 18, 2011

ExchangeStatus IndexChange
TASI (Saudi Stock Market)
6144.35-0.47%
DFM (Dubai Financial Market)
1471.580.26%
ADX (Abudhabi Securities Exchange)
2570.82-0.23%
KSE (Kuwait Stock Exchange)
6003.3-0.39%
BSE (Bahrain Stock Exchange)
1264.23-0.08%
MSM (Muscat Securities Market)
5742.740.34%
QE (Qatar Exchange)
8431.541.00%
LSE (Beirut Stock Exchange)
1244.47-0.22%
EGX 30 (Egypt Exchange)
4325.7-0.89%
ASE (Amman Stock Exchange)
2029.41-0.25%
TUNINDEX (Tunisia Stock Exchange)
4554.290.57%
CB (Casablanca Stock Exchange)
11433.2-0.33%
PSE (Palestine Securities Exchange)
480.830.44%

Deposit guarantee may stay longer - Emirates 24/7

The UAE government is considering extending a three-year decision to guarantee bank deposits introduced just after the eruption of the 2008 global fiscal crisis to protect its financial system, an official has said.

The UAE, the second largest Arab economy with the biggest regional banking system, enforced the bank deposit guarantee system in October 2008, just a month after the global crisis jolted the economies and banks of most nations.

In a report on Sunday, a Dubai-based Arabic language daily said it asked finance ministry undersecretary Younus Khoury if there is any plan to extend that system once it is expired next month.

Oil revival lifts Abu Dhabi 2010 nominal GDP 16 pct | Reuters

Abu Dhabi's nominal economic output rose 15.9 percent in 2010, after shrinking nearly a quarter in the previous year, helped by recovery in its key hydrocarbon sector, the Gulf Arab emirate's preliminary data showed on Sunday.

The United Arab Emirates member, which sits on 10 percent of global oil reserves and accounts for 90 percent of UAE oil output, felt the pinch of the global financial crisis in 2009 after crude prices tumbled from 2008 record highs LCOc1.

With oil price recovery in 2010, the crude-reliant Abu Dhabi economy picked up speed again to see its nominal gross domestic product rise to 620.3 billion UAE dirhams ($169 billion), Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre's (SCAD) yearbook showed.

Top global banks cut MENA research roles - sources | Business | Reuters

Leading global investment banks, including Credit Suisse AG (CSGN.VX: Quote), are cutting research staff in the Middle East to save costs amid tough global conditions and a dearth of work in the region.

Japan's largest investment bank Nomura (8604.T: Quote) has shut down its research department, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote) and Credit Suisse have cut their top equity research jobs for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, four sources said.

Dubai Shares Advance to Week High on Optimism Over European Debt - Businessweek

Dubai’s shares rose to the highest level in a week, led by Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, after European government officials and central bankers took steps to ease the region’s debt crisis and oil advanced. Qatari shares gained.

Dubai Islamic, the biggest Shariah-compliant lender in the emirate, climbed 1.5 percent. Air Arabia PJSC, the Middle East’s biggest low-cost airline, increased for the second time in three days. The DFM General Index added 0.3 percent to 1,471.58, the highest since Sept. 11, at the 2 p.m. close in the emirate. Qatar’s QE Index rallied the most in two weeks.

“Stock prices are mainly positive today after a rebound in global equities markets,” said Nabil Farhat, a partner at Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajer Securities. “However, the volume of trades is still weak, reflecting weak liquidity in the system.”


gulfnews : Regional stock markets affected

The region's stock markets are likely to move sideways with a downward bias in the week ahead as global investors have increasingly become risk-averse over the past one month due to the Eurozone debt crisis, which experts fear is deepening.

"The global markets are in a risk-off mode. I would expect the regional markets to trade sideways until we get some resolution from Europe with regard to the Greek situation," Mark Watts, head of fixed income, asset management group at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi told Gulf News.

"There has to be more clarity from Europe for trading volumes to increase in the region. We believe, once the current uncertainties are removed, investors will return to the regional markets to pick up value securities," Watts added.

Qatar bureau to fight corruption in the region

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday met at the United Nations headquarters Qatar’s Attorney-General, H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Merri who is currently visiting New York to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation to combat corruption in the Arab region.

The UN Chief praised Qatar’s efforts at the local and regional levels to combat the scourge of corruption which he said it undermines the economy and development efforts and adversely affect the daily lives of people around the world.

Following the meeting, a signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding was held to establish an Office to support anti-corruption efforts in the Arab region through a regional specialised project to provide specialized technical assistance based on best international standards and practices.

AFP: Qatar interested in EADS stake: Der Spiegel

The Gulf state of Qatar is in talks to buy into European aerospace firm EADS by purchasing half of German carmaker Daimler's shares up for sale, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported.

Members of the Qatari government met two weeks ago with German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler for initial talks, said the magazine in its edition to be published Monday.

Defence group EADS is the parent company of plane maker Airbus.

Saudi Arabian Shares Rise for Third Day on Optimism Over European Debt - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabian shares rose for a third day, led by petrochemical makers and banks, as government officials and central bankers took steps to ease the European debt crisis.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemical maker, advanced the most since April. National Industrialization Co., the petrochemicals company known as Tasnee, gained the most in two weeks. Al Rajhi Bank (RJHI), the kingdom’s largest lender by market value, climbed the most in a week.

The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX), the largest bourse in the Middle East by market value, advanced 1.7 percent to 6,173.49, the highest level since Aug. 3, in Riyadh. The 148-company gauge has declined 6.8 percent this year.

Total disclosure is the key to Dubai's recovery - ArabianBusiness.com

The headlines last week may not have made particularly pleasant reading for Nakheel executives, even though they must have been expecting it. In the firm’s Islamic bond prospectus, Nakheel told potential investors that it had written off a hefty $21bn due to the collapse in local property values post-Dubai World.

While the media attention has focused, perhaps unsurprisingly, on the $21bn figure, the truth is that this actually spells pretty good news for Nakheel going forward. If there’s one thing from which investors will run screaming, that’s a lack of accountability.

In March last year, I spoke to Jan Plantagie, the regional head of Standard & Poor’s. At the time, his firm was in the spotlight after Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG) – which oversees, amongst others, the Jumeirah Group, Dubai Properties Group and Tecom – dropped its relationship with the ratings agency after a disagreement over transparency.

gulfnews : Dubai's economy 'shows extraordinary expansion'

Dubai managed to catch up with higher labour productivity levels in Singapore by 2007 in diverse sectors such as retail and wholesale trade, construction, transport and communications, and the financial sector, according to experts of the Economic Policy and Research Centre (EPRC), the operational arm of the Secretariat General of the Dubai Economic Council.

"The growth in manufacturing, though vigorous, has not been enough to close the gap with Sing-apore and there remains space for future improvement in Dubai.

"The more backward sector seems to be that of social and personal services," the ERPC experts said in a study, the findings of which were released yesterday.

Abu Dhabi fund buys into Rwanda bank IPO

Abu Dhabi's Invest AD said it has joined hands with a fund run by Japan's SBI Holdings to buy into the initial public offering of Bank of Kigali, Rwanda's largest bank by assets.

Its entry into the $75 million IPO, which was completed last month and was the second listing on Rwanda's nascent bourse, is the first deployment from the $75 million Invest AD Emerging Africa Fund.

'Because of strong economic growth, Africa has a very interesting IPO pipeline,' David Sanders, Invest AD's chief investment officer, said in a statement.

Top 10 Fund Managers - Zawya

The Gulf's top ten fund managers control $20-billion, or 72% of assets under management, in the region's mutual funds industry.

NCB Capital has more assets under management (AUM) than any other in the region and commands nearly 21% of market share by the first quarter of the year, according to Kuwait Financial Centre, or Markaz research.

Indeed, the Gulf asset management industry is dominated by Saudi institutions, with Sambacapital, Riyad Capital, Al Rajhi Capital, HSBC Saudi and Caam Saudi Fransi, among the top 10 managers.

Saudi Stock Market close - September 18, 2011

General Index
Intraday 3 month
Daily Statistics
Date17/09/2011
General Index6173.49
Change (%)1.68%
Change101.97
T. Volume168917857
T. Companies 150
Advanced135
Declined4
Unchanged7
UnTraded4