Sunday 31 May 2015

MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar rebounds as World Cup fears ease; other markets weak | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar rebounds as World Cup fears ease; other markets weak | Reuters:



"Qatar's stock market rebounded on Sunday after dropping at the end of last week on MSCI index adjustments and news of arrests and criminal probes at world soccer body FIFA. Other markets in the Middle East were mostly negative.



The Qatari World Cup organising committee defended its successful 2022 World Cup bid on Friday and FIFA President Sepp Blatter secured re-election for a fifth term, partially easing concern that Doha might conceivably lose the tournament hosting rights.



Qatar's stock index, which had lost 4.1 percent in respone to the FIFA news last week, climbed 1.2 percent on Sunday. Petrochemicals giant Industries Qatar jumped 2.3 percent, also supported by oil's 5 percent surge on Friday."



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UPDATE 2-MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt extends losses, Saudi Arabia flat | Reuters

UPDATE 2-MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt extends losses, Saudi Arabia flat | Reuters:



"Egypt's bourse extended losses on Sunday in a broad decline, while Saudi Arabia's stock market moved very little.



The Cairo index fell 1.2 percent as most stocks traded lower, continuing a decline which began last week as Egypt's weighting in MSCI's emerging markets index was reduced with Telecom Egypt's exclusion from the benchmark.



Also, Egypt started rationing gas supplies to a number of industrial consumers, such as steelmaker Ezz Steel, last week as a rise of temperatures across the country led to an increase in power consumption."



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Nicola Sturgeon: EU membership 'vital for jobs' - BBC News

Nicola Sturgeon: EU membership 'vital for jobs' - BBC News:



"Membership of the EU is vital to Scottish jobs and the economy, Nicola Sturgeon is due to tell an audience in Brussels later this week.



The first minister will state the Scottish government's commitment to Europe.



She will reiterate her call for a "double lock" on membership to prevent Scotland being forced out of the EU against its will in the referendum."



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India is the jewel in the emerging market crown - FT.com

India is the jewel in the emerging market crown - FT.com:



"One year on from the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is attracting unprecedented levels of support from emerging market fund managers.



Even though India’s stock market has struggled to maintain the momentum that followed the election in May last year, emerging market managers are running their largest overweight position to Indian equities relative to the MSCI emerging markets benchmark since records began in 1995.



“No market in EM has ever been liked more than India in the history of investor positioning post 1995,” says Markus Rosgen, an equity strategist at Citi, the bank."



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Kiev rejects debt restructuring deal - FT.com

Kiev rejects debt restructuring deal - FT.com:



"Ukraine has rejected a debt restructuring deal put forward by international creditors as the two sides struggle to break through a negotiation stalemate.



A group of investors representing just under $9bn of Ukrainian bonds, including Franklin Templeton, Ukraine’s largest creditor, this month suggested a plan to reduce the country’s debt burden by $15.8bn over the next four years — a figure that exceeds the $15.3bn targeted by the government.



An insider said the restructuring would involve bundling Ukraine’s outstanding international debt into one or two bonds and extending the repayment date by up to 10 years."



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Saudi Arabia and its Challenges | tks @TheGulfblog

Saudi Arabia and its Challenges | The Gulf blog:



"In 2010 at a conference in Riyadh, an academic presented a cogent case as to why the fiscal picture for Saudi Arabia was, in the medium and long term, looking grim. His figures were correct, and his conclusions were not hyperbolic, but sensibly grounded in the facts. Nevertheless, the Saudi participants around the table, ranging from ministers to CEOs to academics to the state’s leading journalists, greeted the presentation with a weary shrug. Their point was that they had seen just such cogent presentations every five years for decades and yet the sky never did quite manage to fall in.



It would be, therefore, really quite a significant call to suggest that on this occasion, as opposed to the countless previous assertions, Saudi Arabia is actually facing some kind of a crisis. Yet, it appears that the state may well be entering just such a concerning phase.



At the core of this thesis are three interlinked factors that are facing quite unprecedented change and these changes look set to – at the very least – vastly complicate the already Gordian difficulties facing the Kingdom."



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Adia gets new head of US, internal equities department | GulfNews.com

Adia gets new head of US, internal equities department | GulfNews.com:



"The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) said on Wednesday that it has appointed John Pandtle to the newly created position of head of the US in its internal equities department, effective immediately.



Based in Abu Dhabi, Pandtle will lead a team of portfolio managers and be responsible for developing strategy and overseeing the management of US focused investment portfolios within the internal equities department. He will report to Greg Eckersley, Global Head of Internal Equities, the company said. 




With over 20 years of equity research and asset management experience, Pandtle joins Adia from Eagle Asset Management in St Petersburg, Florida, where he has worked since 2009 as a portfolio manager with responsibility for constructing and managing portfolios, and producing research, in the financials, materials, and utilities sectors."



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Exclusive: Six powers agree way to restore U.N. sanctions in push for Iran deal - sources | Reuters

Exclusive: Six powers agree way to restore U.N. sanctions in push for Iran deal - sources | Reuters:



"Six world powers have agreed on a way to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran if the country breaks the terms of a future nuclear deal, clearing a major obstacle to an accord ahead of a June 30 deadline, Western officials told Reuters.



The new understanding on a U.N. sanctions “snapback” among the six powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - brings them closer to a possible deal with Iran, though other hurdles remain, including ensuring United Nations access to Iranian military sites.



The six powers and Iran struck an interim agreement on April 2 ahead of a possible final deal that would aim to block an Iranian path to a nuclear bomb in exchange for lifting sanctions. But the timing of sanctions relief, access and verification of compliance and a mechanism for restoring sanctions if Iran broke its commitments were among the most difficult topics left for further negotiations."



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UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar rebounds after sell-off over FIFA | Reuters

UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Qatar rebounds after sell-off over FIFA | Reuters:



"Qatar's bourse rose in early trade on Sunday after dropping at the end of last week on news of arrests and criminal probes at world soccer body FIFA.



The country's World Cup organising committee defended its successful 2022 World Cup bid on Friday and FIFA President Sepp Blatter secured re-election for a fifth term, partially easing concern that Doha might conceivably lose the tournament hosting rights, depending on how the investigations developed. 




Qatar's stock index climbed 0.7 percent as most stocks rose. Petrochemicals giant Industries Qatar jumped 2.1 percent, also supported by oil's 5 percent surge on Friday."



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