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Saturday 18 February 2012
Saudi Stock Market
FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in the United Arab Emirates | Energy & Oil | Reuters
The United Arab Emirates is vulnerable to any fallout from tension over Iran's nuclear programme, which has escalated after Tehran threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz and stop the flow of the bulk of the region's oil.
Any move to obstruct Hormuz could spark a wider military confrontation. The United States has said it would not tolerate the strait being blocked.
On the domestic front, the UAE has escaped the upheaval that has shaken the Arab world, but the case of five activists convicted of insulting the country's rulers suggests the oil producing state is not immune to calls for reform.
Any move to obstruct Hormuz could spark a wider military confrontation. The United States has said it would not tolerate the strait being blocked.
On the domestic front, the UAE has escaped the upheaval that has shaken the Arab world, but the case of five activists convicted of insulting the country's rulers suggests the oil producing state is not immune to calls for reform.
* username: rupertbu
Saudi Shares Gain as Signs U.S. Economy Growing Lift Oil Outlook - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabian shares rose after signs of an improving U.S. economy and progress on a bailout for Greece bolstered the outlook for fuel demand.
Southern Province Cement Co. (SOCCO), the kingdom’s biggest cement producer by market value, reached its highest intraday price since August 2006. National Industrialization Co. (NIC), known as Tasnee, rose for the fifth day in six.
The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) rose 0.2 percent to 6,827.93 at 12:53 p.m. in Riyadh. The 151-member measure has gained 6.4 percent this year. More than four stocks rose for every stock that fell.
Southern Province Cement Co. (SOCCO), the kingdom’s biggest cement producer by market value, reached its highest intraday price since August 2006. National Industrialization Co. (NIC), known as Tasnee, rose for the fifth day in six.
The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) rose 0.2 percent to 6,827.93 at 12:53 p.m. in Riyadh. The 151-member measure has gained 6.4 percent this year. More than four stocks rose for every stock that fell.
* username: rupertbu
Bloomingdale's Dubai sales 'back on track' - Retail - ArabianBusiness.com
Macy's Inc chief executive Terry Lundgren has said sales at its Bloomingdale's store in Dubai are "back on track" after first year blues.
He told a group of aspiring fashion industry executives that sales in the first year of the Dubai store, which opened in 2010 as part of a $73m joint venture with Al Tayer Group, were disappointing.
But he added that sales had picked up in the second year of operations, without giving further details, Reuters reported.
He told a group of aspiring fashion industry executives that sales in the first year of the Dubai store, which opened in 2010 as part of a $73m joint venture with Al Tayer Group, were disappointing.
But he added that sales had picked up in the second year of operations, without giving further details, Reuters reported.
* username: rupertbu
Business : Gas buoys Qatar plans
Five years ago, half a dozen cars at a traffic light in Qatar’s capital Doha would lead to mutterings about how crowded the city was becoming. Now bumper-to-bumper traffic often clogs a seafront dominated by gleaming skyscrapers. At night, tastefully lit buildings exude opulence, and wooden dhows plying the water are the only obvious sign of the past.
But this change is nothing compared with the transformation that the country’s rulers plan over the next decade. Throw in its aspirations to be a regional peacebroker, and it is no exaggeration to call Qatar the world’s most ambitious country.
The gas-rich Gulf state has a population of just 1.7 million people, of which only about 250,000 are Qatari citizens; most of the rest are foreign workers. So as it spends $150 billion on a metro, airport, seaport, roads and an urban makeover in preparation to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, the inevitable question is being asked: has a country a quarter the size of Switzerland bitten off more than it can chew?
But this change is nothing compared with the transformation that the country’s rulers plan over the next decade. Throw in its aspirations to be a regional peacebroker, and it is no exaggeration to call Qatar the world’s most ambitious country.
The gas-rich Gulf state has a population of just 1.7 million people, of which only about 250,000 are Qatari citizens; most of the rest are foreign workers. So as it spends $150 billion on a metro, airport, seaport, roads and an urban makeover in preparation to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, the inevitable question is being asked: has a country a quarter the size of Switzerland bitten off more than it can chew?
* username: rupertbu
gulfnews : Only one stock preferred in Mideast
When it comes to the Middle East, Fidelity's Emerging EMEA Markets Fund has just one stock: Industries Qatar, a conglomerate that includes both petrochemical and fertiliser companies.
"They have got cheap feedstock and cheap gas that is ultimately used in the fertiliser sector. Right now that is what the world needs and we like it," says Mark Livingston, investment director of emerging market equities, Fidelity Investments.
But generally speaking, what happens in the Middle East is a bit inconsistent with the way Fidelity looks at stocks, he says. For example, with regard to the Emerging EMEA Funds, liquidity is very important.
"They have got cheap feedstock and cheap gas that is ultimately used in the fertiliser sector. Right now that is what the world needs and we like it," says Mark Livingston, investment director of emerging market equities, Fidelity Investments.
But generally speaking, what happens in the Middle East is a bit inconsistent with the way Fidelity looks at stocks, he says. For example, with regard to the Emerging EMEA Funds, liquidity is very important.
* username: rupertbu
Qatar National’s Talks to Buy Dexia’s Denizbank Said to Stall Over Price - Bloomberg
Qatar National Bank SAQ (QNBK)’s talks to acquire Denizbank AS (DENIZ), the Turkish lender put up for sale by Dexia SA (DEXB), are stalled over price and may collapse, people with knowledge of the process said.
Dexia, which is being broken up after the European debt crisis reduced its ability to obtain funding, has reached out to other potential buyers, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private.
The Franco-Belgian lender is seeking about 1.5 times Denizbank’s book value of $2.1 billion, while Doha-based QNB is prepared to pay between 1 and 1.2 times, the people said. While the two sides may still reach an agreement, Dexia could also decide to end the process and begin a new search for a buyer at a later date, they said.
Dexia, which is being broken up after the European debt crisis reduced its ability to obtain funding, has reached out to other potential buyers, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the discussions are private.
The Franco-Belgian lender is seeking about 1.5 times Denizbank’s book value of $2.1 billion, while Doha-based QNB is prepared to pay between 1 and 1.2 times, the people said. While the two sides may still reach an agreement, Dexia could also decide to end the process and begin a new search for a buyer at a later date, they said.
* username: rupertbu
PE in emerging markets goes local - The Deal Pipeline
Last month, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital (Beijing) Co. Ltd. trumpeted the simultaneous closing of two new funds that total $4 billion. That constituted the largest successful fundraising ever by a homegrown private equity firm not just in China but in the entire emerging-markets universe and rivaled TPG Capital and CVC Capital Partners for pulling off the biggest emerging-markets fundraising ever. "They raised the bar," says Jack Lange, a Hong Kong-based partner with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Hony's accomplishment sends several messages, and not just about China: Institutional capital to emerging-markets private equity is moving with renewed force after the global financial crisis. It is particularly flowing into indigenous private equity firms. And it is surging in a way that bolsters a select local private equity class in emerging markets, one that in those local markets begins to rival an international counterpart.
Hony's accomplishment sends several messages, and not just about China: Institutional capital to emerging-markets private equity is moving with renewed force after the global financial crisis. It is particularly flowing into indigenous private equity firms. And it is surging in a way that bolsters a select local private equity class in emerging markets, one that in those local markets begins to rival an international counterpart.
* username: rupertbu