Sunday 18 January 2015

Be careful with central banks - YouTube

Be careful with central banks - YouTube: ""



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City frets ahead of UK election - YouTube

City frets ahead of UK election - YouTube: ""



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Oil's rebound, earnings lift Gulf; SABIC up despite Q4 profit slide | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Oil's rebound, earnings lift Gulf; SABIC up despite Q4 profit slide | Reuters:



"Gulf stock markets rose on Sunday after companies published mostly positive quarterly earnings and oil prices extended gains. Saudi Arabia's biggest listed company gained despite poor earnings, a fresh sign that the market may have bottomed.



Oil ended last week higher after seven successive weeks of losses, with Brent slightly above $50 a barrel. A report by the International Energy Agency said there were signs that lower prices had begun to curb production in some areas, including North America.



Saudi Arabia's equities benchmark rose 0.9 percent and Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) climbed 1.1 percent to 79.25 riyals after falling as much as 1.1 percent in the opening minutes."



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Iran Blames Oil-Price Plunge for Delay in Minister’s Saudi Visit - Bloomberg

Iran Blames Oil-Price Plunge for Delay in Minister’s Saudi Visit - Bloomberg:



"A meeting between the foreign ministers of OPEC’s Iran and Saudi Arabia was delayed in part due to discord over falling crude prices, said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs.



Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, made an invitation in May to Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks in the kingdom with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal. The visit, postponed a few months ago because of differences over the Syria conflict, has been pushed off again “due to oil-price declines,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Al-Alam state-run television, according to its website.



Oil producers in the Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, “are expected to make efforts to stop the fall in oil prices and not let the decline have a lasting impact on oil-producing nations’ economies,” Amir-Abdollahian said, according to Iran’s Al-Alam. Brent crude has dropped 53 percent in the past year."



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Emirates NBD Bad Loans Improve After Dubai World Offer - Bloomberg

Emirates NBD Bad Loans Improve After Dubai World Offer - Bloomberg:



"Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES), the United Arab Emirates’ second-biggest bank, said its bad loans ratio improved after reclassifying its exposure to Dubai World, which last week said it agreed a $14.6 billion debt restructuring.



The Dubai government-controlled lender’s impaired loan ratio dropped to 7.8 percent at the end of December, from 12.6 percent in the third quarter, according to a statement from the company posted on NASDAQ Dubai today. The bank said its debt to Dubai World is now performing after the state-owned holding company offered to repay some of its loans ahead of schedule and a majority of creditors agreed to a new debt plan.



Emirates NBD is one of the biggest lenders to Dubai World, which roiled global markets in 2009 by announcing plans to freeze payments on approximately $25 billion of debt. About 73 percent of Dubai World’s creditors agreed to a new debt restructuring proposal last week, which includes early repayment of $2.92 billion due this year and the extension of debt due in 2018 to 2022. The plan may be approved in May."



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MIDEAST WEEKAHEAD-Sliding oil beats Gulf stock values down to reasonable levels | Reuters

MIDEAST WEEKAHEAD-Sliding oil beats Gulf stock values down to reasonable levels | Reuters:



"When Saudi Arabia announced last July that it would open its stock market to direct foreign investment, a common worry among fund managers was that when the reform finally took place, the market would simply be too expensive to buy. 




Sky-high valuations were a feature of Gulf Arab bourses for most of last year as the region basked in huge oil revenues, rapid economic growth and rock-bottom interest rates. They created dangerous bubbles in stocks and limited the scope for foreign fund managers to invest.



Now those valuations have been slashed by plunging stock prices as investors react to the collapse of oil prices. This has made the bourses look a lot more attractive from a fundamental perspective, many fund managers and analysts argue."



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Gulf’s legal structures get a substantial overhaul | GulfNews.com

Gulf’s legal structures get a substantial overhaul | GulfNews.com:



"Moving into 2015, the Middle East can expect to see a number of trends and drivers continuing to put pressure on the region’s political and socioeconomic infrastructures, which without doubt will have an impact on business and the legislative frameworks that surround it.



The fall in oil prices and the emergence of DAESH will continue to dominate headlines and, inevitably, impact business. Commercially, 2014 ended as an uncomfortable year for several Middle Eastern countries which look set to lose the exceptional margins they were able to make on high oil prices over recent years as a factor of economic uncertainty and readjustment.



But infrastructure projects will forge ahead and hope exists that the psychological concerns that result will force governments to step up their efforts to diversify their economies beyond oil."



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Swiss Franc Trade Is Said to Wipe Out Everest’s Main Fund - Bloomberg

Swiss Franc Trade Is Said to Wipe Out Everest’s Main Fund - Bloomberg:



"Marko Dimitrijevic, the hedge fund manager who survived at least five emerging market debt crises, is closing his largest hedge fund after losing virtually all its money this week when the Swiss National Bank unexpectedly let the franc trade freely against the euro, according to a person familiar with the firm.



Everest Capital’s Global Fund had about $830 million in assets as of the end of December, according to a client report. The Miami-based firm, which specializes in emerging markets, still manages seven funds with about $2.2 billion in assets. The global fund, the firm’s oldest, was betting the Swiss franc would decline, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private.



Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Everest Capital with Peppercomm, declined to comment on the losses. Calls to Dimitrijevic weren’t returned."



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Abu Dhabi’s Shares Lead Gulf Market Rally After Oil Price Jump - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s Shares Lead Gulf Market Rally After Oil Price Jump - Bloomberg:



"Shares in Abu Dhabi rose to the highest level in three weeks, leading gains in Gulf Arab markets, after crude oil surged the most in more than two years. Dubai’s stocks also advanced.



The ADX General Index (ADSMI) added 1.9 percent to 4,567.47, the strongest since Dec. 29, at 12:05 p.m. local time. First Gulf Bank PJSC led the increase with a 2.4 percent jump. Dubai’s DFM General Index (DFMGI) rose 1.6 percent and was headed for the highest level in almost three weeks and Qatar’s QE Index climbed 0.7 percent.



Brent, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, surged 5.2 percent, the most since June 2012, to $50.17 a barrel on Jan. 16. The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for supply from non-OPEC oil producers this year. Four out of six Gulf Cooperation Council states are part of the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries."



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Saudi Basic Industries Reports 29% in Profit on Oil Drop - Bloomberg

Saudi Basic Industries Reports 29% in Profit on Oil Drop - Bloomberg:



"Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s biggest petrochemical maker by sales, reported a 29 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit as lower oil prices reduced returns from its own products.



Net income dropped to 4.36 billion riyals ($1.16 billion) from 6.16 billion riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company known as Sabic said in a statement today. The mean estimate of seven analysts was 5.39 billion riyals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales slipped 10 percent to 43.4 billion riyals. 




“Fourth-quarter results are not a surprise for us, we have foreseen the effects of the drop in oil prices on our business,” Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Al Mady said at a press conference in Riyadh."



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