Monday 13 June 2016

Does the US still need Saudi Arabia? - BBC News

Does the US still need Saudi Arabia? - BBC News:

"It's been a rough year for the seven-decade-old alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia, from Riyadh's fury over the nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama's comments about free-riding allies, to the Saudi threat to sell off $750bn (£523bn) in US treasury bonds and front page headlines decrying the Saudis as "Royal Scum".
Now, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince is coming to the US with a different message - you may not like us or need our oil as much anymore, but the kingdom is one big investment opportunity.
Mohamed bin Salman, the brash, ambitious and powerful 30-year-old son of the king will be pitching the idea of a deeper economic engagement between the two countries and taking the unusual step of setting an agenda beyond talks in Washington with administration officials.
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Middle East sovereign wealth funds ‘coping’ with low oil price environment | The National

Middle East sovereign wealth funds ‘coping’ with low oil price environment | The National:

"Sovereign wealth funds from across the Middle East, which reined in spending last year unlike their global peers, are coping with the low oil price environment, according to the asset manager Invesco.

Confidence remains stable in the Middle East, where a lot of work was done on risk management, governance and asset allocation in the wake of the global financial crisis, said Alex Millar, the head of Invesco’s Emea sovereigns division.

“As a consequence, while they [Middle Eastern funds] are in an environment that is challenging, they feel better able to cope with that," said Mr Millar. “Clearly, if oil prices remain low, there may well be future withdrawals but what we’re seeing is that a number of funds thought they might have to face redemptions but haven’t. Governments are using a variety of sources for funding and sovereigns are just one of those."

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Emirates to cooperate with South Africa investigation into ‘incentives to travel agents’ | The National

Emirates to cooperate with South Africa investigation into ‘incentives to travel agents’ | The National:

"Emirates has said it will “cooperate fully" with South African authorities in an investigation into claims that the ­Dubai carrier offered incentives to travel agents to divert sales from competitors between 2010 and 2014.

“We take compliance with competition law very seriously wherever we operate, and we are cooperating fully with the [competition] commission’s inquiry," an Emirates spokeswoman said. The airline said that it would not make any further comment at this stage since the investigation was an ongoing matter.

South Africa’s competition commission confirmed that it was investigating Emirates for abuse of dominance under the Competition Act, Business Day, a Johannesburg publication, reported. The act bans a firm from “inducing" a customer to not deal with a competitor."



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Dubai's non-oil foreign trade soars to Dh319 billion in Q1 | GulfNews.com

Dubai's non-oil foreign trade soars to Dh319 billion in Q1 | GulfNews.com:

"Dubai has achieved exponential growth in the total volume of non-oil foreign trade commodities during the first quarter of 2016.

According to statistics released by Dubai Customs, the volume of traded goods jumped  by 17 per cent from the same period last year to reach 24 million tonnes.

The spike in growth was the result of re-export commodities soaring 35 per cent to 4.1 million tonnes, export goods rising by 26 per cent to 4.58 million tonnes, and import goods going up 11 percent to 15.25 million tonnes."



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Full Show: Bloomberg Markets Middle East (06/13) - Bloomberg

Full Show: Bloomberg Markets Middle East (06/13) - Bloomberg:




"Bloomberg Markets Middle East hosted by Manus Cranny and Rishaad Salamat. Guests include Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at Emirates NBD and Wayne Gordon, executive director for commodities at UBS Wealth management, CIO Office. (Source: Bloomberg)"



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf stocks slip but Saudi property shares extend gains | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf stocks slip but Saudi property shares extend gains | Reuters:

"Gulf stocks edged down in response to weak oil prices and international markets on Monday, but shares of Saudi Arabian property developers gained further on hopes they would benefit from the country's economic reforms.

Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development rose 2.3 percent to 6.60 riyals. The shares have been rising since the company announced last week it was in talks with the government to build homes under the kingdom's economic reform programme.

The stock is now trading well above the mean price target, 5.94 riyals, of eight analysts polled by Reuters."



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QNB Raised $2.75B in Tier 1 Notes - Bloomberg

QNB Raised $2.75B in Tier 1 Notes - Bloomberg:




"Qatar National Bank, the country's biggest bank, raised $2.75B from capital-boosting perpetual notes in the single largest issue in the Middle East and North Africa. Bloomberg's Sam Potter reports on "Bloomberg Markets Middle East." (Source: Bloomberg)"



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