Monday 22 June 2015

MIDEAST STOCKS-Greece hopes lift most of Gulf; Saudi, Egypt slide | News by Country | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Greece hopes lift most of Gulf; Saudi, Egypt slide | News by Country | Reuters:



"Most Gulf stock markets rose on Monday on hopes that Greece would avoid defaulting on its debt, but Saudi Arabia continued dropping after breaking technical support. Egypt fell after a major brokerage issued a bearish technical report.



The chief of staff to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted that the latest proposal from Greece was a "good basis for progress". This helped to boost global stock prices and lift oil off its lows.



Dubai's main index climbed 1.0 percent to 4,135 points as trading volume tripled from Sunday's very low level. The index rose above technical resistance on its 200-day average, now at 4,099 points."



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Greek crisis in 90 seconds | FT Markets - YouTube

Greek crisis in 90 seconds | FT Markets - YouTube: ""



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Fresh bid for UK’s Severn Trent in the works | The National

Fresh bid for UK’s Severn Trent in the works | The National:



"The Canadian investment company Borealis Infrastructure is reportedly considering a £5 billion (Dh29.16bn) bid for Severn Trent, the UK’s second-largest publicly traded water company.



Britain’s The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the two sides opened talks last month and discussions were still at an early stage.



In 2013, Severn Trent rejected a series of takeover offers by LongRiver Partners, an investment fund consortium including Borealis Infrastructure and the Kuwait Investment Office, saying they did not reflect the utility’s long-term value. The bid topped out at about £5.2bn or £22 a share."



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Iran and Iraq are Opec’s biggest wild cards | The National

Iran and Iraq are Opec’s biggest wild cards | The National:



"Iran and Iraq have taken over from North American shale oil as the biggest wild card facing Opec and the world oil market in the year ahead, according to a number of leading market analysts.



New research by the Edinburgh oil consultancy Wood Mackenzie, for example, reckons that the combined additional production from the two countries could be running as much as 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) higher in the coming months.



On the other hand, the volatile conditions the two countries face mean output from the two could end up little changed, the consultancy adds."



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Saudi Arabia seen opting for debt to fill fiscal gap | GulfNews.com

Saudi Arabia seen opting for debt to fill fiscal gap | GulfNews.com:



"Saudi Arabia is likely to bridge its widening fiscal gap by resorting to domestic borrowing in the near future, according to economists and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).



The country is expected to face a larger than estimated budget deficit this year due to the sharp decline in oil prices combined with rising government expenditure on account of increased welfare spending, government handouts to its employees and a jump in defence expenditure on account of the conflict in Yemen.



While Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists estimate Saudi budget deficit to exceed 17 per cent of GDP in 2015, the IMF puts the deficit figure at a slightly higher rate of 20 per cent of GDP."



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Dubai’s realty decline not as steep as in 2009 | GulfNews.com

Dubai’s realty decline not as steep as in 2009 | GulfNews.com:



"The current decline in Dubai’s property values could extend to an up to 20 per cent drop from their 2014 peaks, but still far removed from the bottom reached during the 2009-11 crisis years.



The projection, by the credit rating agency, S&P should give some cheer to investors and developers who have seen steady erosion in values – and demand - since the beginning of the year.  Their concern has been that with more launches expected in the second-half of the year, it could create a glut in the marketplace of unsold properties if demand does not rise proportionately.



But the S&P report suggests that developers are much better placed than they were in 2009, when the enormity of the decline in demand took them completely off-guard. Also, both developers and buyers were over-leveraged, which is not the case today."



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Saudi Stocks Drop on Oil as Ramadan Weighs on Mideast Markets - Bloomberg Business

Saudi Stocks Drop on Oil as Ramadan Weighs on Mideast Markets - Bloomberg Business:



"Saudi Arabian stocks, opened last week to foreign investors for the first time, sank the most in 12 weeks following a decline in the price of crude oil.



The Tadawul All Share Index retreated 1.7 percent to the lowest level in more than two months. Al Rajhi Bank, the lender with the biggest weighting on the gauge, led the decline with a 2.9 percent drop, followed by National Commercial Bank’s 3.1 percent slide. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s top petrochemicals manufacturer by sales, dropped 2.2 percent.



“It’s a reaction to the weakness of oil prices on Friday,” Sebastien Henin, the head of asset management at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi, said by telephone on Sunday. “Investors are selling as there wasn’t the spike they were expecting after the market opened up for direct foreign investment.”"



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Kicking the can around the world - YouTube

Kicking the can around the world - YouTube: ""



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi slides below chart support on oil; UAE and Qatar firm - Yahoo Maktoob News

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi slides below chart support on oil; UAE and Qatar firm - Yahoo Maktoob News:



"Saudi Arabia's main stock index fell below technical support on Sunday because of weak oil prices and disappointment that inflows of foreign funds had been slow. Markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar rose.



The Saudi index fell 1.7 percent to 9,344 points in thin trade, dropping below its 200-day average, now at 9,433.



Two straight daily closes below that support would be technically negative, implying a fresh wave of profit-taking after the index rose in anticipation of the market being opened to direct foreign investment on June 15."



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