#Israel Shares Drop Most in Region; #Dubai Stocks Rally: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Israel Shares Drop Most in Region; Dubai Stocks Rally: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Equities in Dubai advanced on Sunday amid optimism over a rebound in tourism, while the main index in Israel slumped. Saudi stocks gave up early gains, but are still on track to be the Middle East’s best performers in 2020.

Gauges in Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt rose between 0.3% and 1%, while those in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Israel slipped. The volume of shares traded in all markets was below the 30-day average ahead of the holiday season. The main index in Riyadh gained as much as 0.6% before ending 0.3% lower.

Positive sentiment prevailed in the Gulf as OPEC+ said it will react faster to changes and take a more hands-on approach with the oil market by starting regular monthly meetings. More frequent conferences mean policy makers in oil-producing countries will drive the market, not speculators, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Saturday.

The Tadawul All Share Index is up about 4% in 2020, more than any other in the Gulf, despite a slump in the price of crude since the start of the pandemic. Saudi shares have been recovering amid optimism that vaccine rollouts will provide a long-awaited boost to oil demand. About 300,000 people have already registered to take the Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

Loose monetary policy in Saudi Arabia, high liquidity among investors, and companies taking steps to save cash to retain investors’ confidence helped boost the biggest stock market in the Middle East in 2020, according to Joice Mathew, head of equity research at United Securities in Muscat.

“After the initial hiccups and uncertainties related to low oil prices in April, investor sentiment was boosted in an unprecedented manner,” Mathew said. He added that a weaker dollar, stronger oil price and vaccine developments are “an excellent recipe for continuation of the investor confidence and momentum.”

UPDATE 1-State-backed Meraas plans buyout of theme park group DXB Entertainments | Reuters #Dubai #UAE

UPDATE 1-State-backed Meraas plans buyout of theme park group DXB Entertainments | Reuters

Dubai property company Meraas, which owns more than half of DXB Entertainments, intends to make a conditional offer to acquire the remaining shares in the loss-making theme park group and take it private, stock exchange filings showed on Sunday.

Under the terms of the offer, minority shareholders in DXB Entertainments (DXBE) will be entitled to 0.08 dirhams ($0.0218) in cash for each DXBE share, valuing the company at 640 million dirhams ($174.25 million).

DXBE’s current market value is about 960 million dirhams, based on Refinitiv Eikon data.

“The board of DXBE is in the process of evaluating the offer and will update the market in due course,” the company said in a statement signed by its chairman, Abdul wahab Al Halabi.

State-backed Meraas currently holds 52.3% of DXBE, based on Refinitiv Eikon data. The Qatar Investment Authority and Kuwait Investment Authority own 10.98% and 5.07% respectively.

DXB Entertainments, which listed in 2014, last month reported that its accumulated losses as of the end of September stood at 6.2 billion dirhams, or 78% of its capital. It made a net loss of 238 million dirhams in the third quarter.

Mideast Stocks: Qatari shares outperform on broad-based gains; #Saudi eases | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Mideast Stocks: Qatari shares outperform on broad-based gains; Saudi eases | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Most major stock indexes in the Middle East ended higher on Sunday, with Qatari shares outperforming thanks to broad-based gains, while petrochemical shares weighed on the Saudi index.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.3%, hit by a 4.9% fall in Advance Petrochemical and a 3% drop in Jabal Omar Development.

The kingdom's economy shrank more slowly in the third quarter as the government eased some coronavirus restrictions, but the pandemic-hit oil sector continued to struggle, data showed on Thursday.

Dubai's main share index settled 0.4% up, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties rising 1.4%, while DAMAC Properties advanced 4.6%.

DAMAC shares surged over 14% during the day after it called a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss and consider a potential acquisition.

In a separate bourse filing, the firm clarified that the potential acquisition pertains only to increasing its shareholding in a project in London.

The Abu Dhabi index gave up early gains to close 0.4% lower. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates' largest lender, retreated 1.2%, while telecoms firm Etisalatwas down 0.6%.

In Qatar, the benchmark index climbed 1%, ending two sessions of losses, as most of its stocks were in positive territory. Petrochemical maker Industries Qatar led the gains rising 1.7%.

Oil's Vaccine Trade Faces Hurdles Ahead As Covid Lockdowns Last - Bloomberg

Oil's Vaccine Trade Faces Hurdles Ahead As Covid Lockdowns Last - Bloomberg

It’s easy to get caught up in oil’s recovery. After an exceptionally fraught year, hopes are high that putting 2020 soundly behind us can only mean better days. But there’s still a long way to go to get back to anything like normal.

That hard reality didn’t stop crude prices from rising by $14 a barrel, or 37%, since the beginning of November. That’s when trial data showed vaccines were proving extremely effective against SARS-Cov-2, followed by the rapid roll-out of the first doses in the U.K. and U.S. There’s a sense of optimism that hasn’t been felt since the world woke up early in the year to a new disease that had emerged in China.

The relief being felt in the oil market is understandable. As the virus spread, it had a devastating impact on lives and livelihoods. The only tool most governments had to slow contagion was to shut down their economies, causing an unprecedented slump in oil demand.

The world’s major oil forecasters — the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — slowly began to factor the virus into their outlooks, initially seeing its impact limited to China. But by April it was apparent that the disease was spreading rapidly elsewhere. Forecasts for 2020 oil demand were slashed and they haven’t recovered much in subsequent months as the chart below shows.

Oil consumption this year is now expected by all three to be about 10 million barrels a day below the volumes they were forecasting at the end of last year — enough to fuel all of Africa and Latin America.

#Saudi Shares Boosted by OPEC+, Stocks Rally in #Dubai: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Saudi Shares Boosted by OPEC+, Stocks Rally in Dubai: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Saudi stocks rallied, putting them on track to be the Middle East’s best performers in 2020, a day after the OPEC+ group pledged a more hands-on approach to the oil market. Equities in Dubai were among the region’s best performers amid optimism over a rebound in tourism.

The main index in Riyadh gained 0.3% as of 10:20 a.m. local time Sunday, closing in on its highest level since July 2019. Gauges in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain rose between 0.2% and 1.1%. The volume of shares traded in all markets was below the 30-day average ahead of the holiday season.

Positive sentiment prevailed as OPEC+ said it will react faster to changes and take a more hands-on approach with the oil market by starting regular monthly meetings. More frequent conferences mean policy makers in oil-producing countries will drive the market, not speculators, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Saturday.

The Tadawul All Share Index is up just over 4% in 2020, more than any other in the Gulf, despite a slump in the price of crude since the start of the pandemic. Saudi shares have been recovering amid optimism that vaccine rollouts will provide a long-awaited boost to oil demand. About 300,000 people already registered to take the Covid-19 vaccine in the country.



Loose monetary policy in Saudi Arabia, high liquidity among investors and companies taking steps to save cash to retain investors’ confidence helped boost the biggest stock market in the Middle East in 2020, according to Joice Mathew, head of equity research at United Securities in Muscat.

“After the initial hiccups and uncertainties related to low oil prices in April, investor sentiment was boosted in an unprecedented manner,” Mathew said. He added that a weaker dollar, stronger oil price and vaccine developments are “an excellent recipe for continuation of the investor confidence and momentum.”

OPEC+ Will React Faster, Be More Hands-On With Oil Market - Bloomberg

OPEC+ Will React Faster, Be More Hands-On With Oil Market - Bloomberg

OPEC+ will react faster to changes and take a more hands-on approach with the oil market, thanks to its accelerated schedule of monthly meetings, according to Russia and Saudi Arabia, the group’s leaders.

More frequent OPEC+ conferences mean policy makers in oil-producing countries will drive the market in the coming months, not speculators, said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. He spoke to reporters after talks in Riyadh on Saturday with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

“We are meeting monthly because we believe that the market is still not recovered and is still extremely volatile,” Novak said. “We need to adopt a hands-on approach and be able to react faster.”

After a difficult round of talks in early December, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to meet every month, a significant acceleration of their typical bi-annual schedule. The next meeting is on Jan. 4, when they will consider whether to add as much as 500,000 barrels a day of production to the market.

IMF Sees #Qatar’s Economy Return to Growth, Wider Deficit in 2021 - Bloomberg

IMF Sees Qatar’s Economy Return to Growth, Wider Deficit in 2021 - Bloomberg

Growing natural gas production and a rebound in domestic demand will help Qatar return to economic growth next year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest assessment of the country’s financial health.

Gross domestic product will grow 2.7% in 2021 following a contraction of 2.5% this year, the IMF said in a statement following virtual meetings held with Qatari officials Dec. 6-14. It added that risks to this forecast mainly emanated from the global economic outlook.

While Qatar is projecting it will run a budget deficit next year -- a shortfall the IMF pegs at 6% of the country’s GDP -- the fund said that the country’s decision to reprioritize some spending has kept the fiscal gap in check.

“Postponing unawarded contracts on non-core, non-World Cup related investment projects and savings in operating spending helped to mitigate the impact from the lower oil price and a slowdown in economic activity,” the IMF said.

Mideast Stocks- #Dubai index leads major Gulf markets higher | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Mideast Stocks-Dubai index leads major Gulf markets higher | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Major stock markets in the Gulf rose early on Sunday amid firmer oil prices as investors focused on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, with the Dubai index leading the gains.

Brent crude on Friday settled up 76 cents, or 1.5%, at $52.26 a barrel after touching $52.48, its highest since March.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index traded 0.3% higher, with petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries among the gainers.

The kingdom's economy shrank more slowly in the third quarter as the government eased some coronavirus restrictions, but the pandemic-hit oil sector continued to struggle, data showed on Thursday.

Dubai's main share index rose 1.1%, buoyed by a 12.4% jump in DAMAC Properties and a 2.3% increase in Emaar Properties.

DAMAC called a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss and consider a potential acquisition.

In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.5%, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank rising 0.8%.

The Qatari index advanced 1%, on track to end two sessions of losses, led by a 1.6% gain in sharia-compliant lender Masraf Al Rayan and a 1.2% rise in petrochemical firm Industries Qatar.