Friday, 11 January 2019

QSE gained 307.87 points last week - The Peninsula #Qatar

QSE gained 307.87 points last week - The Peninsula Qatar:

Qatar Stock Exchange’s (QSE) benchmark index made a significant gain of 307.87 points, or 2.97 percent, last week when the bourse closed yesterday at 10,658.22 points.

Trading value during last week increased by 121.83 percent to reach QR1.47bn compared to QR663.30m at the end of previous week.

Trading volume increased by 139.21 percent to reach 71.84 million shares, as against 30.03 million shares, while the number of transactions rose by 70.31 percent, to reach 38,073 transactions as compared to 22,355 transactions.

Erdogan’s $2 Billion Reason to Thank the Saudis - Bloomberg

Erdogan’s $2 Billion Reason to Thank the Saudis - Bloomberg:

There are opportunistic financing deals, and then there’s Turkey. A $2 billion 10-year bond sale appeared out of nowhere for the country on Wednesday, with no roadshow and no prior announcement. But there was one big helping hand.

Saudi Arabia had just launched $7.5 billion of new 10- and 30-year notes and had elected for tighter pricing rather than raising a larger sum. This left a window for Turkey to present themselves to bond funds who were already looking at the Middle East, but who’d perhaps not been allocated enough from the heavily oversubscribed Saudi deal. Turkey’s timing was impeccable.

With a 7.625 percent coupon, its new 10-year paper looks generous to buyers on first glance, when you compare it to similar BB-rated sovereigns. But considering Turkey’s full-blown crisis in 2018, one might have expected it to be a lot higher. In the circumstances, it got this one one away easily and with a lower premium than you’d expect — even if there were a lot of Turkish buyers. Nearly 500 basis points over comparable 10-year U.S. Treasury debt may seem high, but credit spreads have widened everywhere recently.

#Lebanon Finance Minister Denies He Plans to Restructure Debt - Bloomberg

Lebanon Finance Minister Denies He Plans to Restructure Debt - Bloomberg:

Lebanon’s plan to shore up its strained finances doesn’t include debt restructuring or any reconsideration of the fixed exchange rate, according to the caretaker finance minister.

The recommendations under consideration may include some debt rescheduling, as well as spending cuts and tax and electricity reforms, Ali Hasan Khalil said Friday in an emailed response to questions. If debt is to be rescheduled, it will only be done in coordination with the central bank and local lenders, he said. Lebanese officials have said it’ll probably be locally denominated.

“There is no intention to restructure debt or touch the rights of holders of sovereign debt securities in any way,” Khalil said.

Crude Rally Hits Pause as Markets Reassess Economic Outlook - Bloomberg

Crude Rally Hits Pause as Markets Reassess Economic Outlook - Bloomberg

Oil prices closed lower for the first time in two weeks Friday as investors paused to assess the economic outlook and OPEC’s ability to counter the U.S. shale boom.
Futures in New York slipped 1.9 percent for the day, ending a nine-day rally that has pushed crude back into a bull market. Prices slipped along with the S&P 500 as the U.S. government shutdown showed no signs of ending, leaving some 800,000 federal workers without pay.
“It could be just a slight risk-off environment after four days of quite strong rallying in asset markets,” said Frances Hudson, global thematic strategist at Aberdeen Standard Investments in Edinburgh.
West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell $1 to settle at $51.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its 7.6 percent increase for the week was the best since late June.
Brent for March settlement declined $1.20 to $60.48 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark traded at a premium of $8.57 a barrel to WTI for the same month.

BP Thinks It's Sitting on Another Giant Gas Field in the Caspian - Bloomberg

BP Thinks It's Sitting on Another Giant Gas Field in the Caspian - Bloomberg:

BP Plc and its partners just spent $28 billion bringing a giant natural gas project in Azerbaijan online, and that may only be the start.

The British oil major intends to drill six new exploration wells in the country by 2020, according to Gary Jones, BP’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. If his expectations are met, the company could find a new gas play that’s about the same size as Shah Deniz, its project that produces the fuel from a field in the Caspian Sea that’s as large as Manhattan.

“Alongside Brazil, Azerbaijan stands out in terms of the areas of focus for the next few years,” Jones said in a phone interview. “It’s a very significant exploration program for us, which demonstrates the confidence and the role that we see in the Caspian.”

Oil Set for Biggest Weekly Gain in Two Years as Rebound Persists - Bloomberg

Oil Set for Biggest Weekly Gain in Two Years as Rebound Persists - Bloomberg:

Oil headed for its biggest weekly gain in over two years on hopes that OPEC will manage to shrink a glut and trade tensions between the U.S. and China will ease.

Futures in New York have advanced 10 percent this week, as Saudi Arabia pledged that a producer coalition it’s leading will keep the market in balance. Still, prices are about 30 percent lower than their highs in October even after a rebound since Christmas Eve thrust crude back into a bull market. That signals investors need reassurance that the group will curb supply sufficiently and demand will hold up.

Crude’s direction in coming weeks may be determined by whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia implement output cuts they have promised for the first six months of 2019. Also crucial will be the outcome of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China -- the world’s two biggest economies. A deal between the nations could boost flagging global growth that underpins oil demand.

Ailing Gulf Giant #Etihad Scraps Airbus Orders, Cuts Pilot Jobs - Bloomberg

Ailing Gulf Giant Etihad Scraps Airbus Orders, Cuts Pilot Jobs - Bloomberg:

Etihad Airways scrapped orders for Airbus SE jetliners and revealed plans to cut 50 pilot posts as the Persian Gulf carrier seeks to slim down operations amid mounting losses.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad canceled the purchase of 10 A320neo single-aisle jets, based on the latest monthly order figures from Airbus, while a letter to staff indicates that the flight-crew jobs, representing about 2.4 percent of pilots, will be eliminated by the end of this month.

Thousands of positions have already gone as Etihad puts the brakes on a costly expansion bid to challenge Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. Chief Executive Officer Tony Douglas said in July that more posts would be cut after almost $3.5 billion in losses over two years, and that jetliner orders were in doubt as he focused on local needs rather than carrying passengers between continents.