Thursday 10 November 2016

MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt surges in record volume on signs of dollar inflows | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt surges in record volume on signs of dollar inflows | Reuters:
"Egyptian stocks jumped in record volumes on Thursday, driven by signs that hard currency was flowing into the country after last week's pound devaluation, while Saudi Arabia's index extended recent gains.

Egypt's blue chip index surged 4.5 percent, bringing its gains since the currency was floated last Thursday to 25 percent. The broader EGX 100 index was up by its 5 percent limit two minutes before the close, causing trade to be suspended.

Exchange data showed foreign investors were again heavy net buyers of Egyptian stocks and, after sliding earlier this week, the pound strengthened against the dollar after the central bank announced a $2 billion financing deal with global banks. Bankers said dollar liquidity in the currency market was improving."

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Independent US oil producers increase hedges for 2017

Independent US oil producers increase hedges for 2017:
"US independent oil producers have taken advantage of the recent bump in crude prices to lock in future revenues, building up derivatives positions for 2017.

In third-quarter earnings reports over the past three weeks, several US exploration and production companies said they had hedged significantly more of their expected oil sales for the coming year than they had done at the equivalent point of 2015 in preparation for this year.

The additional protection from hedges will support cash flows and investment plans even if crude prices continue to weaken, helping to sustain US oil production."

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Saudi Prince Alwaleed gives Trump benefit of the doubt

Saudi Prince Alwaleed gives Trump benefit of the doubt:
"Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was trolling Donald Trump on Twitter earlier this year — now he is offering a handshake emoji to the US president-elect.

The two outspoken billionaires clashed in 2015 after Mr Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the US. He also promoted a fake photo of the Saudi royal, prompting Prince Alwaleed to mock Mr Trump, saying he had helped bail out the real estate mogul twice in the 1990s.

“My spat with him came when he attacked my religion, Islam,” Prince Alwaleed said. “He is now taking a conciliatory note and wants to be more inclusive, so that is welcomed by me, the Arab and Islamic worlds.”"

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How Qatar is feeling the heat

How Qatar is feeling the heat:
"
Almost the moment I landed in Qatar last month, news broke that the emir’s grandfather Sheikh Khalifa had died, and Qataris went into mourning. The conference I had come for was cancelled. Suddenly, I was free to explore Qatar. I came away dizzy. This tiny monarchy just across the Persian Gulf from Iran and Iraq changes faster than anywhere else I’ve ever been.

Almost everyone I met was a foreigner like me. Ninety per cent of Qatar’s population are migrants, about three-quarters of them male. They range from the South Indian sweeping invisible specks of dirt from beneath your bench in the baking heat, to the British “expat” (never called “migrant”) getting drunk at Friday-morning brunch. This mix produces daily allegories of global racial inequality: as the “expat” climbs dripping from the hotel pool, the “migrant” serves him frozen grapes. This mix also means that Qatar leads the world not just in income and carbon footprint but possibly also in loneliness per capita. I spotted one South Asian-looking pedestrian whose T-shirt said: “I Am All Alone Without You — I Miss You.”

All this is new. When Khalifa was born in 1932, Qatar scarcely existed. Without air-conditioning, it was too hot to move. In 1949, Qatar had only six state employees, according to Mehran Kamrava in his excellent Qatar: Small State, Big Politics. The weekly plane that brought mail in the late 1950s sometimes didn’t even bother to land, dropping letters by parachute instead."

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Why India has ditched Rs500 note I World - YouTube

Why India has ditched Rs500 note I World - YouTube: ""



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U.A.E.’s Habtoor Says He’s Been Buying Pounds After Decline - Bloomberg

U.A.E.’s Habtoor Says He’s Been Buying Pounds After Decline - Bloomberg:
"Dubai billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor has been buying the British pound after it weakened against the U.S. dollar and said he’s seeking to expand in Europe.
“We’re expanding overseas right now’’ mostly in “safe regions,’’ Al Habtoor told Bloomberg Television in an interview Thursday. “We also bought a lot of pound sterling.”"

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Airlines to Trump: Block Rivals and Privatize Air Traffic Control - Bloomberg

Airlines to Trump: Block Rivals and Privatize Air Traffic Control - Bloomberg:
"Donald Trump, a hotelier and former airline executive, has said plenty about immigrants, borders, and free trade. But he hasn’t said much about the multibillion-dollar aviation industry. This huge segment of the American economy has some priorities and complaints that have gone essentially nowhere during the Obama administration, due in part to political gridlock.
With Republicans running both houses of Congress and the White House next year, airlines are now ready to push their case on several issues they hold dear. Most aviation experts say it’s hard to gauge how Trump’s administration might respond, given that it doesn’t owe the industry any favors.
“This is probably not the kind of pro-business Republican administration you might expect,” said Seth Kaplan, managing partner at Airline Weekly, an industry journal, as Trump isn’t tied firmly to a particular ideology and “doesn’t really have any core beliefs. He’s said certain things in the campaign that he had to, to bring himself in line with the Republican Party a little bit, but it’s not like there’s a history with anything.”
"

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MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai and Qatar bounce in line with global shares, Saudi robust | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai and Qatar bounce in line with global shares, Saudi robust | Reuters:
"Stock markets in Dubai and Qatar recovered from the shock of a Donald Trump presidency in early trade on Thursday, mirroring global bourses, while Saudi Arabia's index rose above minor technical resistance.

Following Trump's election victory, world markets initially fell sharply but they are now bouncing back; the Thomson Reuter's global index is up 1.0 percent.

Many economists believe that although there may be a period of uncertainty as governments and businesses await Trump's policies, the Gulf region will be relatively resilient because it does not rely much on foreign capital. Because of its currency pegs, it could benefit from any protracted period of lower interest rates if the U.S. central bank delays tightening."

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