Saturday 8 September 2012

Saudi Stock Market close - September 8, 2012


 General Index
Intraday  3 month  
 Daily Statistics
 Date08/09/2012
 General Index7105.04
 Change (%)0.79%
 Change55.53
 T. Volume229697545
 T. Companies 158
   Advanced123
   Declined10
   Unchanged19
   UnTraded6


STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Saudi stocks close higher on petchem gains - Yahoo! News Maktoob

Saudi shares close higher on Saturday lifted by gains in the petrochemical sector.
The all-share ends 0.8 percent higher to 7,105 points and the petrochemical sector closes 1.2 percent higher at 6,089 points.
Heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) ends 2.2 percent higher.

STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Saudi stocks rise, lifted by petchems - Yahoo! News Maktoob

Saudi shares open higher on Saturday, lifted by gains in the petrochemical sector after oil prices rose on Friday.
World energy markets had lifted after a volatile trading session. Brent October crude rose 76 cents to settle at
$114.25 a barrel and U.S. October crude rose 89 cents to settle at $96.42 a barrel.
The all-share gains 0.9 percent to reach 7,114 points and the petrochemical index adds 1.6 percent to
6,113 points.
Heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) gains 2 percent in early trading.

Why high rental yields should push Dubai house prices very much higher « ArabianMoney

The rental returns on Dubai residential real estate are more than three times those obtained in many global hub city property markets. Therefore as Dubai rental yields gradually converge with the global averages house prices are going to move very much higher.

Consider a humble one-bedroom apartment in The Greens. At the moment it would sell for AED800,000 and rent for AED60,000 per year, that is a gross rental yield of 7.5 per cent. If the rent remains static and the price is adjusted to a more normal global rental return then this apartment needs to be valued at AED2.4 million.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi hotel performance levels dip in summer - Emirates 24/7

In the UAE, hotel performance levels for Dubai and Abu Dhabi during the month of July highlighted the double impact of summer and Ramadan. Occupancy levels in Dubai fell 11.0 percentage points to 70.0per cent in July while Average Room Rate (ARR) increased by 6.4per cent to US$188.51.

Additionally, the onset of Ramadan caused a notable decrease in food and beverage revenues as well.

The 8.2per cent drop in TRevPAR and the increase in costs including the 5.5 percentage points rise in Payroll caused a dent in the bottom line, dragging GOPPAR down by 30.6per cent to US $45.18.

Bahrain makes a strong comeback among sovereignsFinancial Services - Zawya

Among the sovereigns, Bahrain has experienced a very strong comeback, driven by both investor demand and short covering by dealers, according to Invest AD’s Middle East and Africa markets outlook. In a market where most bonds have moved up between 0.50 and 1.00 points, Bahrain 22s rallied from 99.50 a couple of weeks ago to trade around the 102 mark – indicating that investors continue to look at the bond to add risk.

US Banks and Sociopaths

Oceans of [US] taxpayer money and patience have been devoted to propping up the US banking system. Why? So that when we go to retrieve our money from an ATM our money will actually come out.

At least that's what then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson told us when the big US banks were on the verge of hitting the fan in 2008 and 2009.

The implication was that if the US banks failed - "poof" - our money would go with them. Nobody wanted to lose their cash, not at the same time many people's 401(k)s were being turned into 201(k)s.

UPDATE 2-US Ex-Im Bank backs $2 bln loan for UAE nuclear plant | Reuters

The U.S. Export-Import Bank said on Friday it authorized a $2 billion direct loan to Barakah One Co of the United Arab Emirates to purchase U.S. equipment and construction services to build one of the world's largest nuclear power plants.

The credit line is expected to support approximately 5,000 jobs across 17 U.S. states and has the support of the White House's National Security Council as well as the departments of State and Energy, Ex-Im Bank said.

"In addition to bolstering American jobs, Ex-Im Bank will make history by backing the construction of the first nuclear power plant on the Arabian peninsula," Fred Hochberg, president of the U.S. Ex-Im Bank, said in a statement.

Qatar wants to be Shell's top shareholder - report | Reuters

Qatar wants to become the biggest shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell by raising its stake to 7 percent to strengthen its ties with the oil company and further invest its wealth in western assets, a report said on Friday.

The Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) said Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, was looking to raise its stake from below 3 percent, which would make it the biggest shareholder, above Blackrock's 5 percent.

Shell declined to comment on the report.