Saturday 28 January 2012

Saudi Stock Market close - January 28, 2012


General Index
Intraday 3 month
Daily Statistics
Date28/01/2012
General Index6537.12
Change (%)0.93%
Change60.26
T. Volume327941591
T. Companies 151
Advanced108
Declined28
Unchanged11
UnTraded4

Saudi Shares Climb to Six-Month High - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabian shares rose to a six- month high in the first trading day this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it would keep interest rates low through at least late 2014.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemicals maker, jumped the most in more than seven weeks, while National Industrialization Co. (NIC), known as Tasnee, gained more than 2 percent.
The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) rose 0.9 percent to 6,537.12 at the 3:30 p.m. close of trading in Riyadh, the gauge’s highest close since July 11. The 150-member measure has gained 1.3 percent in the past four days. More than three shares climbed for every one that dropped.

Saudi Arabian Petrochemical Shipments Rose 5.7% in December - Bloomberg

Petrochemical shipments from Saudi Arabia rose 5.7 percent to 3.33 million tons in December, compared with a year earlier, according to data published on the Saudi Ports Authority website. Shipments for all of 2011 increased by 4.1 percent from 2010 to 32 million tons.

Falcon Private Bank launches MENASA Fixed Income Fund - bi-me.com

Falcon Private Bank, the Swiss wealth management boutique, launches the Falcon MENASA Focused Fixed Income Fund for qualified investors to capture investment opportunities in the emerging markets.

Falcon Private Bank continues its ambitious growth story in the MENA region, building on its emerging markets expertise and strong shareholder setting. The Falcon MENASA Fixed Income Fund focuses on strong emerging economies in the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia.

Emerging markets are expected to increasingly decouple from developed markets and as such offer a diversified investment opportunity.

Pearl-Qatar firm posts $1bn profit for 2011 - Construction - ArabianBusiness.com

The developer behind Qatar's flagship Pearl project has posted net profit of more than $1bn for 2011, more than six times the 2010 figure.
United Development Company (UDC), which saw its president and managing director Khalil Sholy resign earlier this month, reported a net profit of QR3.772bn ($1.03bn) for last year compared with QR617m for 2010.
Total assets increased to QR19.056bn, compared to QR10.878bn as of the end of 2010, it said in a statement.

Saudi Arabian Shares Advance to Six-Month High on Fed’s Low-Rate Pledge - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabian shares rose to a six- month high in the first trading day this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it would keep interest rates low through at least late 2014.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemicals maker, gained as much as 2.2 percent, while Etihad Etisalat Co., (EEC) which trades as Mobily, headed toward its highest close since February 2008 after its board recommended distributing quarterly dividends in fiscal 2012.
The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) rose 0.6 percent to 6516.38 at 2:09 p.m. in Riyadh, the gauge’s highest intraday level since July 25. The 150-member measure extended its gain in the past four days to 1 percent. More than three shares climbed for every one that dropped.

Zain Saudi Arabia to says extend $2.6 bln facility | Reuters

Zain Saudi Arabia said it has approval to extend the maturity of its 9.75 billion riyal ($2.6 billion) Islamic financing facility for an additional six months, in a bourse statement on Saturday.

"Saudi Arabia Zain announces that it has secured unanimous consent on January 25 from its Murabaha investors to extend the maturity of its approximately 9.75 billion riyal Murabaha facility...The facility will now mature on July 27, 2012," it said.

Earlier this month, Zain Saudi Arabia posted an 11 percent decline in losses, bringing the firm's accumulated losses to about 9.6 billion riyals, around two-thirds of the company's 14 billion riyals of share capital.

Saudi Arabia Creates 300,000 Jobs Since June, Eqtisadiah Says - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia has created 300,000 jobs for its citizens since introducing new labor regulations in June, Al-Eqtisadiah said, citing Ibrahim Al-Moaiqel, the general director of the kingdom’s Human Resources Development Fund.

Alcoa asks federal judge to dismiss bribery suit - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Alcoa Inc. on Friday asked a federal judge in Pittsburgh to dismiss a bribery lawsuit filed against the company by an aluminum maker controlled by the Bahrain government.

Aluminium Bahrain BSC, one of the world's largest aluminum smelters, claims New York-based Alcoa reaped more than $400 million in illegal profits by overcharging it for alumina, used to make aluminum. The company, known as Alba, said part of that money was used to pay bribes to senior executives of Alba and to the Bahrain government.

But Alcoa spokeswoman Lori K. Lecker said the company has "moved to dismiss this case in its entirety because Alba's claims are not supported by law or by fact." Alcoa's motion to dismiss the lawsuit says that Alba fails to link Alcoa executives' actions with any scheme and that, because the lawsuit centers on events overseas, federal laws don't apply.

Investment group fund shuns UAE to list in London - The National

UAE stock markets risk losing companies to global rivals if liquidity and credibility are not improved, says the head of a leading UAE investment group.

Abu Dhabi Capital Management (ADCM), an alternative investment firm, is to list one of its funds on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) rather than a UAE bourse.

The company believes local markets do not have adequate liquidity to support such a listing and face numerous other hurdles in attracting business.

Suitors lining up for online electronics store EmiratesAvenue.com - The National

Three companies are queuing up to buy one of the UAE's most popular e-commerce websites, further signalling the rapid growth of online retail in the Middle East.

EmiratesAvenue.com, an electronics website based in Dubai, is in talks with three potential buyers, the negotiations coming just months after the US company LivingSocial snapped up GoNabit.com, a daily deals website.

"We are not only on the lookout for proposals, we have a few proposals so we are discussing the best offer," said Julien Pascual, the chief executive of EmiratesAvenue.com. "We are not looking at the offer in terms of cash only, but who will develop the website in the best way and make it bigger."

Online ad spending held back by 'fear factor' - The National

Online is on the rise in the Arab world - but for the advertisers who decide the fortunes of digital-media outlets, a "fear factor" still prevails.

Dozens of online media platforms have sprung up in the Arab world, as consumers turn to the Web for news, entertainment and social interactions.

Yet advertising dollars have not kept pace with this mass migration to digital.

Oil Markets Seen Withstanding Iran Attack Shock in Global Investor Survey - Bloomberg

More than 70 percent of investors say an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would create only a short-term disruption in oil markets, according to a quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll.
About a third of the 1,209 global investors, traders and analysts surveyed Jan. 23-24 said an attack may trigger an oil shock leading to a global recession.
The European Union agreed Jan. 23 to ban oil imports from Iran starting July 1 as the West increased pressure on the Islamic republic to halt its nuclear program. An Iranian member of parliament reiterated the same day his country will respond by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the regional transit point for about 20 percent of the world’s oil, the Fars news agency said. Saudi Arabia has pledged to make up for any lost production.

Spanair Considering Its Future as Qatar Airways Scraps Bid - Bloomberg

Qatar Airways Ltd., the second- biggest Gulf carrier, pulled out of talks about a bid for Barcelona-based Spanair, prompting it to call a board meeting to consider its future, a spokesman for the European company said.
The regional government of Catalonia, or Generalitat de Catalunya, informed Spanair that Qatar had withdrawn from negotiations, Josep Garriga said today by phone. The government indicated it may stop financing the business, he said.
“We’ve been in talks with airlines to add a strategic partner,” Garriga said. “Qatar Airways, one of the companies interested, isn’t interested anymore, according to Generalitat.”

Dubai lawsuit concocted: QC

SUNLAND concocted its lawsuit against two Australians it accuses of swindling it in a Dubai property deal to avoid the emirate laying bribery charges against it, a court has heard.

Peter Collinson, SC, counsel for one of the men, Matthew Joyce, told the Victorian Supreme Court that Sunland chairman Soheil Abedian and the company's Middle East head, David Brown, had a ''deliberate strategy'' to deceive Dubai authorities about the true nature of the property transaction.

Sunland alleges Mr Joyce and his friend Angus Reed duped it into paying a $14 million fee for control of a prime Dubai waterfront development site in 2007.

gulfnews : UAE job market expands in 2011 as economy grows

The UAE's job market expanded in 2011 and this is slated to continue in 2012 with many UAE companies expecting an increase in their head count this year, Gulf Recruitment Group, one of UAE's leading executive recruiters, said in a report.
The report revealed that companies including multinationals and leading local companies have expressed confidence that 2012 will see accelerated business activity and with this greater hiring in the UAE and the wider region.

MENA: Geopolitical risk weighs on GCC assets - Arab News

The imposition this week by the EU of an oil embargo on Iran as well as financial sanctions on Iran's central bank is likely to keep geopolitical tensions elevated in the GCC, especially as Arab unrest aftershocks linger on. This is being increasingly priced into regional fixed income markets, with 5-year CDS in Saudi Arabia moving above its Arab unrest peak of 2011. That being said: “We see limited direct impact on the GCC from Iran international sanctions, except in the unlikely event of tail risks materializing, and thus reiterate our overweight recommendation on high-quality Abu Dhabi and Qatar sovereigns,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill Lynch) said in its report.