Monday 13 October 2014

Oil Bear Market Tests OPEC Unity as Venezuela Seeks Meeting - Bloomberg

Oil Bear Market Tests OPEC Unity as Venezuela Seeks Meeting - Bloomberg:



"Oil ministers from Kuwait and Algeria dismissed possible production cuts as crude’s slump to a four-year low prompted Venezuela to call for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.



Kuwait hasn’t received an invitation for any urgent OPEC meeting to discuss a reduction in output, Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair said in comments reported by the official Kuwait News Agency. His Algerian counterpart Youcef Yousfi said yesterday he knew of no plans for any emergency session and was unconcerned by current price levels.



Bear markets for Brent and U.S. crude are putting pressure on OPEC’s consensus on output ahead of the group’s scheduled Nov. 27 meeting in Vienna, according to Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. OPEC supplies 40 percent of the world’s oil, and its largest Persian Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, are offering deeper discounts to buyers in Asia to maintain market share amid a global glut.

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Dubai Shares Rise Most in 3 Weeks on Valuations; Tadawul Climbs - Bloomberg

Dubai Shares Rise Most in 3 Weeks on Valuations; Tadawul Climbs - Bloomberg:



"Dubai shares added the most in more than three weeks as some investors judged stocks were cheap after a selloff wiped more than $60 billion from Middle Eastern equity markets yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s equities increased.



The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) increased 1.9 percent to 4,708.70 at the close, after plunging 6.5 percent yesterday. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index advanced 1 percent, and Qatar’s QE Index added 0.5 percent. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index, the main measure for the Arab world’s biggest equities market, rebounded from the sharpest slump in more than three years, rising 2.3 percent, the most since July 22.



Middle Eastern stocks are recovering amid speculation yesterday’s losses were overdone. Dubai’s 14-day relative strength index, a measure of the velocity of gains and losses, fell under 30 for the first time since June, indicating to some investors the measure was oversold. It closed today at 36.3."



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Russia Eases Gas Payment Demands for Ukraine Before Talks - Bloomberg

Russia Eases Gas Payment Demands for Ukraine Before Talks - Bloomberg:



"Russia is offering Ukraine a more flexible payment schedule for overdue natural-gas supplies to resolve a dispute that threatens to disrupt supplies to Europe as the heating season looms.



Russia may cut its demand for the first debt payment to $1.45 billion from $2 billion, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters today in Moscow. Ukraine must settle this amount and pay an advance before Russia will resume deliveries to the transit nation, he said.



“We officially sent that proposal on Oct. 3” to the EU, Novak said. “Ukraine hasn’t accepted it yet.”"



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Russian Central Bank Spent Around $6 Billion in 10 Days to Defend Ruble | News | The Moscow Times

Russian Central Bank Spent Around $6 Billion in 10 Days to Defend Ruble | News | The Moscow Times:



"Russia's Central Bank has spent around $6 billion defending the ruble in the past 10 days, the bank's Governor Elvira Nabiullina said Monday.



Nabiullina added that the situation on the currency market was under control.



The ruble has weakened around 18 percent against the dollar so far this year, pressured by falling oil prices, dollar strength and risk aversion to Russian assets due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis."



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Mumbai's zombie towers - YouTube

Mumbai's zombie towers - YouTube: ""



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Shuaa Capital net profit jumps six-fold to Dh26.2m in third quarter | The National

Shuaa Capital net profit jumps six-fold to Dh26.2m in third quarter | The National:



"Dubai’s Shuaa Capital has reported a six-fold increase in net profit for the three months to September, its best quarterly performance for five years.



The financial services provider reported preliminary net profit of Dh26.2 million for the quarter, compared with Dh3.6m in the same period last year. Net income for the year to date stood at Dh40.7m, compared with a loss of Dh1m last year.



The company’s shares were up 5.94 per cent at Dh1.07, while the broader Dubai market was up 0.22 per cent in late morning trade."



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Qatar National Bank quarterly profit jumps, loan growth dips again | GulfNews.com

Qatar National Bank quarterly profit jumps, loan growth dips again | GulfNews.com:



"Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest lender in the Gulf Arab region, reported a 20.8 per cent jump in third-quarter net profit on Sunday after higher fee income offset another quarter of declining loan growth.



The rise in earnings came despite a second successive quarter in which year-on-year lending growth slipped, a statement from the bank showed, reflecting a wider slowdown in lending in the Gulf state.



QNB’s loans and advances stood at 329 million riyals (Dh331 million) at the end of September, up 8.1 per cent from the same point of 2013."



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Non-Muslims tap sukuk market | GulfNews.com

Non-Muslims tap sukuk market | GulfNews.com:



"This has been a banner year for the Islamic finance industry, thanks to a slew of new high-profile Islamic bonds from an unusual source: non-Muslim governments in Europe, Asia and Africa.



The UK won the race to be the first government from the western world to tap the fast-growing market for so-called sukuk, by structuring and selling a £200 million Islamic bond in June. It was followed by Hong Kong, South Africa and Luxembourg.



These non-Muslim countries have not chosen the arduous, complex task of issuing debt-like securities that adhere to Sharia due to their religious beliefs."



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Opec may cut oil production to stop price fall | GulfNews.com

Opec may cut oil production to stop price fall | GulfNews.com:



"Experts have predicted that oil prices are likely to fall further unless supplies are cut by the oil producing countries.



The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are due to meet on November 27 to take a decision on whether to cut production to stop the slide of prices.



“There are surely signs that Opec is willing to cut oil production to maintain certain price levels. The most obvious example is that cut of over 400,000 barrels per day by Saudi Arabia that was announced last August,” said Tim Boersma, a fellow of energy security initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington."



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Putin Deals China Winning Hand as Sanctions Power Rival - Bloomberg

Putin Deals China Winning Hand as Sanctions Power Rival - Bloomberg:



"Defying his former enemies in the U.S. and Europe may force Vladimir Putin to aid the ascent of his biggest rival in the east.



Isolated over Ukraine, Russia is relying on China for the investment it needs to avert a recession, three people involved in policy planning said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters. This means caving in to pressure to grant China privileged access to the two things it wants most: raw materials and advanced weapons, two of the people said.



Russia’s growing dependence on China, with which it spent decades battling for control over global communism, may end up strengthening its neighbor’s position in the Pacific while hastening its own economic decline. With the ruble near a record low and foreign investment disappearing, luring Chinese cash may deepen Russia’s reliance on natural resources and derail government efforts to diversify the economy."



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Iraq Follows Saudi Cuts as Brent Slides to 4-Year Low - Bloomberg

Iraq Follows Saudi Cuts as Brent Slides to 4-Year Low - Bloomberg:



"Iraq will sell its Basrah Light crude to Asia at the biggest discount since January 2009 as it follows Saudi Arabia and Iran in cutting prices amid a slump in Brent futures to the lowest in almost four years.



Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, trimmed the price differentials for supplies to Asia and Europe for November, the country’s State Oil Marketing Co., known as SOMO, said today. Futures slid as much as 3.6 percent in London to the lowest intraday level since December 2010, and West Texas Intermediate lost 1.8 percent after tumbling into a bear market last week.



The world’s two most-traded oil futures are collapsing as demand growth slows and output expands in the U.S., Russia and other nations. OPEC’s biggest producers are responding by cutting prices, sparking speculation they are ready to compete for market share. Iran last week said it will sell oil to Asia in November at the biggest discount in almost six years, matching cuts by Saudi Arabia."



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Stocks Extend Selloff: Is This the Start of Real Correction?: Video - Bloomberg

Stocks Extend Selloff: Is This the Start of Real Correction?: Video - Bloomberg: ""



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Dubai Stock Plunge Leads Middle East Rout After Global Selloff - Bloomberg

Dubai Stock Plunge Leads Middle East Rout After Global Selloff - Bloomberg:



"Dubai shares dropped the most in almost four months, leading Middle East equity declines, after investor concern global growth will slow sparked a selloff worldwide. Saudi Arabia’s stocks fell the most since March 2011.



The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) slid 6.5 percent to 4,619.60 at the close, the lowest level since July 20. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) retreated 6.5 percent to the lowest since July 22. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index slipped 3.5 percent, the most in almost four years, and Qatar’s QE Index closed 3 percent down.



“Global markets are all selling off and it’s that weakness we’re tracking,” Hisham Khairy, the Dubai-based head of institutional trade at Mena Corp. Financial Services LLC, said by phone. “There’s still more blood to come.”"



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