Monday 11 May 2015

MIDEAST STOCKS-Yemen concerns weigh on Saudi, Dubai falls on weak Q1 earnings | News by Country | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Yemen concerns weigh on Saudi, Dubai falls on weak Q1 earnings | News by Country | Reuters:



"Saudi Arabia's stock market fell on Monday after reports that Riyadh had sent a ground "strike force" including tanks towards its border with Yemen, while Dubai came under pressure from several disappointing first-quarter earnings reports.



In the afternoon, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya Hadath TV channel broadcast pictures of a column of tanks loaded onto military trucks and described it as "the arrival of reinforcements from the strike force to the border".



The Saudi-led air campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen has been a small but significant source of concern for Saudi retail investors, and any escalation into a ground campaign would be seen as negative by the market, at least initially."



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UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf narrowly mixed, Dubai falls on disappointing earnings | Reuters

UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf narrowly mixed, Dubai falls on disappointing earnings | Reuters:



"Gulf stock markets were neutral to negative in early trade on Monday as oil prices remained well off last week's highs. Dubai's bourse was the weakest after some disappointing first-quarter earnings.



Crude oil futures were little changed in Asian trade on Monday, as an interest rate cut by China to bolster its economy failed to instil confidence that oil demand in the world's largest energy consumer would improve quickly to absorb a global supply glut and lift prices.



Stock markets in Qatar and Oman were nearly flat, while Kuwait and Abu Dhabi slipped 0.2 percent each."



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Rebound in US shale will limit oil price recovery - FT.com

Rebound in US shale will limit oil price recovery - FT.com:



"It has been one of the less widely noticed oil price surges. Since January, benchmark Brent crude has risen from less than $47 per barrel to more than $65 per barrel, an increase of about 40 per cent.



The rise has reversed less than a third of the plunge in oil from its peak above $115 per barrel last summer, but there have already been signs that the increase is starting to unsettle debt and equity markets.



While the rebound in oil has been rapid, though, there are good reasons to expect that it will not continue for much longer. The shale oil industry of the US is emerging as the world’s “swing producer”, bringing more crude on to the market when prices rise, and putting a ceiling on its potential price — that will probably now be well below $100 per barrel."



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The Decade of the Indian Ocean Rim - YouTube

The Decade of the Indian Ocean Rim - YouTube: ""



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Indian banking turns to private sector - YouTube

Indian banking turns to private sector - YouTube: ""



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Gulf states agree to push value-added tax project with oil low | GulfNews.com

Gulf states agree to push value-added tax project with oil low | GulfNews.com:



"Officials of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council agreed at the weekend to keep working towards the introduction of a value-added tax around the region, in a sign that low oil prices may be strengthening support for the idea.



A meeting in Doha of the GCC’s Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee adopted a draft agreement on VAT which will be endorsed by member governments, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA quoted Kuwait’s Minister of Finance Anas Al Saleh as saying on Saturday.



Introducing VAT, also known as sales tax, would be a big economic reform for the wealthy Gulf oil exporting states, and politically sensitive because their populations have become used to lavish social welfare spending and near-zero taxation.

"



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets mixed after Brent oil drops from 2015 high | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets mixed after Brent oil drops from 2015 high | Reuters:



"Gulf stock markets were mixed on Sunday as weaker oil offset the positive news of a truce agreed in Yemen, but bourses in the United Arab Emirates attracted investors who placed bets ahead of the last wave of first-quarter earnings reports. 




Early in the day, Yemen's Houthi rebels and the group's army allies said they had accepted Saudi Arabia's proposal for a five-day truce to begin on Tuesday, which could bolster Gulf investors' hopes that a military intervention by Saudi-led ground forces will be avoided.



However, Brent crude oil posted its first weekly loss in a month on Friday as the market fretted again about global oversupply; Brent, which hit a 2015 high just below $70 per barrel last week, closed at $65.39 on Friday."



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