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Saturday 19 May 2012
Saudi Stock Market close - May 19, 2012
STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Saudi bourse hits 3-month low on oil, global fears - Yahoo! News UK
Saudi Arabian shares drop nearly 2 percent to a three-month low, weighed by declines in the heavyweight banking and petrochemical sectors, after a fall in oil prices and global stocks.
The all-share index closes 1.9 percent lower at 6,966 points, 8.6 percent higher than at the start of the year
but a 12 percent drop from a 44-month high hit on April 3. It is the index's lowest closing level since Feb. 20.
"What we're seeing is a reaction to the global market. All eyes on Monday will be watching how early trades deal with Greece and the euro zone crisis," says Hisham Tuffaha, asset manager at Bakheet Investment Group.
The all-share index closes 1.9 percent lower at 6,966 points, 8.6 percent higher than at the start of the year
but a 12 percent drop from a 44-month high hit on April 3. It is the index's lowest closing level since Feb. 20.
"What we're seeing is a reaction to the global market. All eyes on Monday will be watching how early trades deal with Greece and the euro zone crisis," says Hisham Tuffaha, asset manager at Bakheet Investment Group.
* username: rupertbu
EBRD bank approves €1 bn fund for Arab regions - Yahoo! News UK
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced on Saturday that it had approved an investment of 1.0 billion euros ($1.28 billion) for expansion into North Africa and the Middle East.
After years of investing in mainly private-sector enterprises across mostly ex-communist nations in Europe and central Asia, the EBRD has set its sights on Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan following the Arab Spring uprisings.
"The EBRD's shareholders agreed on Saturday to the creation of a 1.0 billion euro special fund to start investments in emerging Arab democracies in response to the wave of political change in parts of the Middle East and North Africa," the bank said after a vote of shareholders at its annual meeting in London.
After years of investing in mainly private-sector enterprises across mostly ex-communist nations in Europe and central Asia, the EBRD has set its sights on Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan following the Arab Spring uprisings.
"The EBRD's shareholders agreed on Saturday to the creation of a 1.0 billion euro special fund to start investments in emerging Arab democracies in response to the wave of political change in parts of the Middle East and North Africa," the bank said after a vote of shareholders at its annual meeting in London.
* username: rupertbu
Saudi Shares Decline on Lower Oil Prices, European Debt Concerns - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabian shares headed for their lowest close in almost three months, led by petrochemical companies and banks, as falling oil prices and concern over Europe’s debt crisis stoked bets that fuel demand could drop.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemical maker known as Sabic, fell to the lowest intraday level since Jan. 31. Al Rajhi Bank (RJHI), the kingdom’s largest bank by market value, declined to the lowest level since Feb. 4. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) dropped 1.2 percent 7,008.62, set for the lowest close since Feb. 21, at 11:37 a.m. in Riyadh. The 152-member index is up 9.2 percent this year.
Oil retreated to a six-month low in New York yesterday on concern Greece will have to leave the euro, compounding Europe’s debt crunch and curbing fuel demand. Crude oil for June delivery fell $1.08 to $91.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, the lowest settlement since Oct. 26. That took their weekly decline to 4.8 percent. Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemical maker known as Sabic, fell to the lowest intraday level since Jan. 31. Al Rajhi Bank (RJHI), the kingdom’s largest bank by market value, declined to the lowest level since Feb. 4. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) dropped 1.2 percent 7,008.62, set for the lowest close since Feb. 21, at 11:37 a.m. in Riyadh. The 152-member index is up 9.2 percent this year.
Oil retreated to a six-month low in New York yesterday on concern Greece will have to leave the euro, compounding Europe’s debt crunch and curbing fuel demand. Crude oil for June delivery fell $1.08 to $91.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, the lowest settlement since Oct. 26. That took their weekly decline to 4.8 percent. Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter.
* username: rupertbu
High-flyers turn hunger strikers after Dubai desert dream ends in jail - Middle East - World - The Independent
Hunger striking is a tactic more often associated with prisoners of conscience and political detainees, but a group of expatriates serving prison sentences in Dubai have a background in high finance.
Safi Qurashi, once a millionaire British property magnate, is one of around 20 expats who have gone nearly a month without food in Al Awir Prison in the hope that their protest will bring about a change in laws that criminalise the bouncing of a cheque.
With a sentence of up to three years being handed down for every cheque that bounces, and sentences running consecutively, some are facing decades behind bars.
Safi Qurashi, once a millionaire British property magnate, is one of around 20 expats who have gone nearly a month without food in Al Awir Prison in the hope that their protest will bring about a change in laws that criminalise the bouncing of a cheque.
With a sentence of up to three years being handed down for every cheque that bounces, and sentences running consecutively, some are facing decades behind bars.
* username: rupertbu
Irish prisoner calls off hunger strike - The Irish Times - Sat, May 19, 2012
The family of an Irish businessman who has been on hunger strike in a Dubai jail says he has resumed taking food this week after being promised a review of his case.
Christopher Renehan (38), a father-of-five, began his hunger strike on April 16th as a last resort to highlight his case after being told he was not authorised to sign off to receive money for his company that would clear his name.
Mr Renehan was sentenced to six years in Dubai’s central prison in the Al Awir desert last October after a cheque he signed on behalf of his construction company, Sire Contracting, bounced. Under Dubai law signing a cheque that bounces is considered fraud and is a criminal offence resulting in a jail sentence.
Christopher Renehan (38), a father-of-five, began his hunger strike on April 16th as a last resort to highlight his case after being told he was not authorised to sign off to receive money for his company that would clear his name.
Mr Renehan was sentenced to six years in Dubai’s central prison in the Al Awir desert last October after a cheque he signed on behalf of his construction company, Sire Contracting, bounced. Under Dubai law signing a cheque that bounces is considered fraud and is a criminal offence resulting in a jail sentence.
* username: rupertbu
THE DAILY STAR :: Qatar eyes huge investment in Bulgaria
Qatar eyed Bulgaria investment opportunities Thursday as the two countries signed a framework agreement at the start of a visit here by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.
“I believe that there are viable opportunities to invest in Bulgaria,” Sheikh Hamad said after signing an investment agreement with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov, adding that the government in Sofia “interacts with us seriously and responsibly.”
The deal could see the state-owned Qatari Investment Fund put as much as 100 million euros ($127 million) in Bulgarian projects.
“I believe that there are viable opportunities to invest in Bulgaria,” Sheikh Hamad said after signing an investment agreement with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov, adding that the government in Sofia “interacts with us seriously and responsibly.”
The deal could see the state-owned Qatari Investment Fund put as much as 100 million euros ($127 million) in Bulgarian projects.
* username: rupertbu