Sunday 7 June 2015

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi Arabia slips alongside oil, Egypt down after weak data | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi Arabia slips alongside oil, Egypt down after weak data | Reuters:



"Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Egypt edged down in early trade on Sunday, in line with the rest of the Middle East, after oil prices fell on the week and fighting in Yemen intensified.



Despite a rally on Friday, Brent crude fell 3.6 percent last week as OPEC left its output unchanged.



Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its allies fired a Scud ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia which the kingdom said it shot down on Saturday, in a major escalation of two months of war. Fighting also intensified along the border between the two countries."



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets pull back; Dubai's Amlak rises in catch-up rally | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets pull back; Dubai's Amlak rises in catch-up rally | Reuters:



"Gulf stock markets edged down in early trade on Sunday after oil prices ended the week lower and corporate news flow remained thin ahead of summer holidays.


Oil had staged its first rally in three days on Friday, gaining 2 percent, despite warnings of more oversupply as a result of OPEC's decision to keep pumping crude without restraint. But for the week, Brent fell 3.6 percent.



Another negative factor for Gulf equities was the escalation of fighting in Yemen where the Houthi group and its allies fired a Scud ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia on Saturday."



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UAE set to post first fiscal deficit since 2009, says IMF | The National

UAE set to post first fiscal deficit since 2009, says IMF | The National:



"The UAE is set to post its first fiscal deficit since 2009 because of lower oil revenues, but it can avoid any serious economic slowdown, the IMF said after annual consultations with UAE authorities.



The UAE’s consolidated fiscal balance is expected to swing to a deficit of 2.3 per cent of GDP in 2015 from a 5.0 per cent surplus last year, the IMF said.



Zeine Zeidane, who led the IMF mission, told Reuters the deficit posed no threat to the economy. He estimated that at today’s oil prices, the UAE could keep spending at current levels for at least 30-40 years, drawing on its ample financial reserves. Brent crude is currently around $63 a barrel."



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Iran hopes to begin Russia oil-for-goods exports this week: Fars | Reuters

Iran hopes to begin Russia oil-for-goods exports this week: Fars | Reuters:



"Russia will begin importing Iranian oil under a long-heralded oil-for-goods barter arrangement in the coming week, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying, more than a year after negotiations began.



The Kremlin announced in April it had begun to implement the deal, in which Iran would export up to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to Russia in exchange for goods of an equivalent value, but traders said they saw no signs of it.


"Russia will begin oil imports from Iran this week," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Bijan Zanganeh as saying on Saturday evening, as he returned to Tehran from an OPEC meeting in Vienna."



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