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Saturday 17 December 2011
Saudi Shares Advance on Stake Acquisitions; Savola Extend Gains - Businessweek
Saudi Arabian shares gained for a second day, led by agriculture and food stocks, as the purchase of stakes in two food and beverage producers by U.S.-based companies boosted sentiment.
Savola Al-Azizia United Co., a Saudi food maker, is on its longest winning streak since February 2010 and Jarir Marketing Co. is headed toward a record high.
The Tadawul All Share Index added 0.1 percent to 6,246.94, at 12:01 p.m. in Riyadh. The 149-company gauge extended its two day gain to 0.9 percent. Four stocks rose for each that declined.
Savola Al-Azizia United Co., a Saudi food maker, is on its longest winning streak since February 2010 and Jarir Marketing Co. is headed toward a record high.
The Tadawul All Share Index added 0.1 percent to 6,246.94, at 12:01 p.m. in Riyadh. The 149-company gauge extended its two day gain to 0.9 percent. Four stocks rose for each that declined.
* username: rupertbu
Arab stocks volatile ahead of Q4 results - Zawya
Arab stock markets closed lower last week as investors focused attention on fourth quarter results and steps being taken by European policymakers to come to grips with the euro zone debt ordeal, financial analysts said Friday.
They expected regional equities to come under additional pressure from political turmoil of by the Arab Spring developments and the standoff over Iran's nuclear file.
"I believe investors will be now turning their attention to the fourth quarter results," Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Arab News.
They expected regional equities to come under additional pressure from political turmoil of by the Arab Spring developments and the standoff over Iran's nuclear file.
"I believe investors will be now turning their attention to the fourth quarter results," Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Arab News.
* username: rupertbu
Shell GTL: Masterstroke or a wrong turn - FT.com
A measure of the vastness of Shell’s new Pearl GTL chemicals plant in the Qatari desert is that it contains enough steel to build 40 Eiffel Towers. That figure – one of series of mega-stats gleefully thrown out by Andy Brown, managing director of Pearl GTL – is also a sign of the size of the gamble Shell and its government partner are taking on the potential of the myriad chemical products derived from the country’s plentiful natural gas.
Conceived in 2006 at a time when oil prices were about two-thirds of today’s $100 or so, the next few years will determine whether Pearl was a far-sighted and lucrative masterstroke or a wrong turn in an era when demand for raw gas in leading emerging economies is so brisk that it is pointless and expensive to fiddle around with it.
* username: rupertbu