Tuesday 2 June 2015

UPDATE 2-MIDEAST STOCKS-Rebounding oil supports Saudi Arabia; Egypt also up | Reuters

UPDATE 2-MIDEAST STOCKS-Rebounding oil supports Saudi Arabia; Egypt also up | Reuters:



"Stronger oil supported Saudi Arabia's stock market in early trade on Tuesday, while Egypt's bourse appeared to be stabilising after a profit-taking bout.



Brent oil rose more than 1 percent towards $66 per barrel on Tuesday because of firm demand after dipping in earlier trade on expectations that OPEC would not cut output at its meeting this week.



Also, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said late on Monday that oil demand would pick up and tighten the market in the second half of the year, while supply would decrease."



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Iran plans to offer more generous terms to oil investors | The National

Iran plans to offer more generous terms to oil investors | The National:



"Iran, seeking billions of dollars to revitalise its ailing oil industry, plans to offer significantly better commercial terms to companies prepared to invest than offered during the last market opening nearly two decades ago.



Foreign oil executives who have reviewed partial drafts of the new terms, called the Iranian Petroleum Contract, said they’re more generous than the types of deals used in the 1990s and 2000s. Unlike those contracts, which merely paid a set fee for the delivery of a project, the new agreements could give investors some share of a field’s production and allow companies to book more reserves on their balance sheet.



Such arrangements would probably make Iran commercially more attractive than regional competitors for international investment including Iraq and Algeria. The executives asked not to be named because Iran has yet to announce the new contract and terms could still change."



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Emaar Misr scales back pricing of Egyptian IPO | The National

Emaar Misr scales back pricing of Egyptian IPO | The National:



"The share price range for the upcoming IPO of Emaar Properties’ Egyptian subsidiary on the Cairo stock market will be announced on Thursday, The National has learned.



Emaar Misr shares in the initial public offering will each be priced at a maximum of 4.49 Egyptian pounds (Dh2.15), as approved by the bourse regulator.



A banking source close to the deal told The National on Monday that the price range that will be included in the offer’s prospectus will be announced on Thursday and would likely come in below the 4.49 Egyptian pounds upper limit to give “a discount to fair value to encourage investors”. ​"



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Adia cites long-term gains as equity and bond markets recover | The National

Adia cites long-term gains as equity and bond markets recover | The National:



"The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, said its long-term returns in 2014 rose as global equity and bond markets inched up amid low interest rates and signs that the global economy is on the mend following years of lackluster growth.



Even though the UAE government relies heavily on revenue from oil sales to fund its budget and the local economy is expected to slow from last year, Adia said that looking forward it was optimistic that fortunes of the global economy as a whole would improve amid low oil prices and a strengthening US dollar. Crude oil, the engine of growth for Arabian Gulf countries, lost nearly half its value last year amid an increase of supply from North America and waning demand from emerging markets like China.



“The drop in oil prices will provide a boost to the economies of Europe, Japan, China, and other big net oil importers,” said Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Adia’s managing director."



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Amlak Advances as Shares Resume Trading After 6-Year Suspension - Bloomberg Business

Amlak Advances as Shares Resume Trading After 6-Year Suspension - Bloomberg Business:



"Amlak Finance PJSC rose on its first day of trading in Dubai following the longest suspension in the market’s history.



Shares in the Islamic mortgage provider climbed to 1.08 dirhams at 10:16 a.m. local time after earlier dropping to as low as 75 fils. The stock started at 1.02 dirhams apiece, its last closing price in November 2008, according to a spokesman for the Dubai Financial Market. Emaar Properties PJSC, which holds a 45 percent stake in Amlak, added 0.6 percent to 7.81 dirhams.



Trading in Amlak was halted six-and-a-half years ago before the United Arab Emirates’ government intervened to rescue the company from insolvency. Dubai and the companies it controls racked up more than $100 billion of debt to transform the sheikhdom into the Middle East’s commercial hub, pushing the emirate to the brink of default during the global financial crisis."



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Saudi Oil Strategy Seen Working by Naimi as OPEC Set to Meet - Bloomberg Business

Saudi Oil Strategy Seen Working by Naimi as OPEC Set to Meet - Bloomberg Business:



"Saudi Arabia, which led OPEC to refrain from cutting oil output at a November meeting, said its market strategy is working days before the group decides policy once again.



Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he didn’t know whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would agree to keep production quotas steady at a June 5 meeting. While there’s a surplus in the global oil market, things are moving “in the right direction,” he said Monday upon arriving in Vienna for the gathering.



Saudi Arabia shaped OPEC’s strategy last year to defend market share amid a global glut and a collapse in benchmark crude, arguing that cutting output to boost prices wouldn’t address the threat from a U.S. shale boom. The group may maintain its collective quota at 30 million barrels a day, according to a Bloomberg survey. That’s after oil rebounded about 40 percent from a six-year low in January."



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