Tuesday 16 October 2018

QSE breaks 10,000 resistance level on an across-the-board buying

QSE breaks 10,000 resistance level on an across-the-board buying:

The Qatar Stock Exchange Tuesday broke the 10,000 resistance level, on an across-the-board buying, especially within the realty, transport and telecom counters.

The robust buying interests of foreign institutions led the 20-stock Qatar Index to surge 2.01% to touch more than a year high of 10,031.59 points, which is up 17.69% year-to-date.

Stronger buying interests, particularly in the midcap equities, resulted in market capitalisation expand about QR11bn or about 2% to QR559.55bn.

Fink Says BlackRock to Move Ahead With Business in Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg

Fink Says BlackRock to Move Ahead With Business in Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg:

BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said his decision to withdraw from the upcoming conference in Saudi Arabia doesn’t mean his company will stop doing business with the country.

“It’s our intention at the moment to continue our relationships with Saudi," Fink said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It is our intention to continue to open an office in Saudi.”

Fink, who heads the largest asset manager, said the firm has relationships in countries around the world, including many where "we don’t approve of behaviors."

Confronting Saudi Arabia Has Its Own Rewards - Bloomberg

Confronting Saudi Arabia Has Its Own Rewards - Bloomberg: Life is about compromise. The trick is knowing how much to compromise to get what you want. You don’t, for example, have to spend every holiday with the in-laws to stay happily married. And you don’t have to completely mollycoddle dictators to get cheap oil.

America has been exploring the boundaries of the latter bargain this week, after the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. Turkey claims U.S. ally and oil supplier Saudi Arabia had the journalist killed and dismembered. President Donald Trump has tried to project some concern about this, while also seeming to take the kingdom’s side, helping spread a “rogue killers” theory of the alleged murder and ruling out a ban on arms sales. As we wrote yesterday, there’s no strategic need for Trump to bow down to the Saudis. And doing so in this case would set a terrible precedent, writes Hal Brands. We can’t just write off unsavory strategic partners like the Saudis, but we also have to set hard boundaries for their behavior, or we’re going to make our problems worse.

Trump did the right thing with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, demanding the release of imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson. And he actually got his way – and maybe changed the attitude of Erdogan a bit in the process. Both Turkey and the U.S. should seize on this opportunity to reset their relationshipBloomberg’s editors write. And Trump should reflect on how defending American ideals can pay dividends.

Softbank 'anxiously' monitoring Saudi Arabia situation: executive | Reuters

Softbank 'anxiously' monitoring Saudi Arabia situation: executive | Reuters:

Softbank Group Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure said on Tuesday it is “business at usual” at companies backed by its nearly $100 billion Vision Fund despite a tense situation with Saudi Arabia, which provided nearly half of the fund’s capital.

Claure spoke at a technology conference in San Jose, California for British chip design firm Arm Holdings, which was acquired by the Vision Fund in 2016 for $32 billion. Claure said Softbank is “anxiously looking at what is happening” regarding the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week.

“We, like most parties in the world, are watching events unfold,” Claure said. “We are just monitoring.”

Oil up; Iran, Saudi supply worries offset U.S. supply growth | Reuters

Oil up; Iran, Saudi supply worries offset U.S. supply growth | Reuters:

Oil prices edged up in cautious trade on Tuesday as expectations of higher U.S. shale output and inventories vied with worries that crude supply from the Middle East could be disrupted by looming U.S. sanctions on Iran and growing tensions with top exporter Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and said the prince was jeopardizing relations with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the Saudi crown prince intends to expand an investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi and that the prince did not know what happened in the Turkish consulate where Khashoggi apparently disappeared.

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi ends up, institutions appear to mount support operation | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi ends up, institutions appear to mount support operation | Reuters:

Saudi Arabian stocks plunged early on Tuesday on worries that the furore over the disappearance of dissident Jamal Khashoggi could damage foreign investment, but the market ended up after state-linked funds appeared to mount an operation to support it.

The Saudi index tumbled as much as 4.0 percent in early trade as local retail investors, who account for the vast majority of trading activity, dumped shares.

But the index closed 1.3 percent higher as state-linked funds came in to buy towards the close. Several regional fund managers said the buying was a deliberate effort to prop up the market, in the same way that funds supported stocks during a panic over a Saudi corruption investigation late last year.

HSBC, Credit Suisse CEOs Follow Dimon and Ditch Saudi Conference - Bloomberg

HSBC, Credit Suisse CEOs Follow Dimon and Ditch Saudi Conference - Bloomberg:

The chief executive officers of HSBC Holdings Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG became the latest top bankers to abandon an investment conference in Saudi Arabia as pressure grows on the kingdom amid allegations it killed a dissident journalist.

HSBC CEO John Flint will not be attending the Future Investment Initiative event in Riyadh next week, spokeswoman Heidi Ashley said, and nor will Credit Suisse’s Tidjane Thiam, according to a person familiar with the matter. Both banks, among the biggest in Europe, are strategic partners of the conference and have close ties to Saudi Arabia. Standard Chartered Plc chief Bill Winters has also pulled out, a spokesman wrote in an email.

The withdrawals deal a severe blow to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to draw international financiers after JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon pulled out along with Blackstone Group LP’s Steve Schwarzman and BlackRock Inc.’s Laurence Fink. The fiasco around the conference shows how the kingdom is coming under mounting pressure to explain what happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic who disappeared two weeks ago.

Blackstone Said to Be Among Investors to Weigh GEMS Stake Sale - Bloomberg

Blackstone Said to Be Among Investors to Weigh GEMS Stake Sale - Bloomberg:

Blackstone Group LP and other investors in GEMS Education are weighing the sale of a 25 percent stake in the Dubai-based school operator after putting plans for an initial public offering on hold, according to people familiar with the matter.

Fajr Capital Ltd., Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co. and the Varkey Group are also considering selling some or all of their holding in the education provider in a deal that could value GEMS at about $4 billion, said the people, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.

The investors are close to hiring Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley to advise on the sale, some of the people said. A formal sale process hasn’t started and the owners may also decide to retain their stake, the people said.

Commentary: Will Khashoggi case bring down Saudi’s crown prince? | Reuters

Commentary: Will Khashoggi case bring down Saudi’s crown prince? | Reuters:

Saudi Arabia and especially its young crown prince – who has been variously portrayed as naïve, venal and blood-thirsty – appear to have vastly misjudged the reaction to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who opposed the new heir’s unchecked efforts to reshape the kingdom and the entire Middle East region with his own vision.

The 33-year-old Mohammed bin Salman has gotten away with quite a lot since his elevation just 16 months ago to the role of heir-apparent to the throne. While praised as the reformist behind measures like allowing women to drive, he detained dozens of members of the royal family and top business leaders at the Ritz Carlton until they agreed to pay financial settlements for unspecified “violations;” has arrested and imprisoned scores of human rights and women’s rights activists; pursued a war in neighboring Yemen where routine flouting of human rights and international battlefield rules have led to the death of at least 10,000 civilians and displaced an estimated 2 million; blockaded and isolated the neighboring sultanate of Qatar, and is yet to complete contracts binding him to a commitment to $110 billion in defense purchases from the United States.

UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi shares fall on concern over Khashoggi case | Reuters

UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi shares fall on concern over Khashoggi case | Reuters:

Saudi Arabia’s stock market fell early on Tuesday amid concern that international outrage over the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi will hurt foreign investment.

After half an hour, the Saudi index was down 3.0 percent, partly reversing its 4.1 percent rebound on Monday. The market has been extremely volatile for several days because of the Khashoggi affair.

Some regional fund managers said stocks had rebounded on Monday because government-linked funds intervened to support the market, as they did late last year when a corruption inquiry unsettled investors.