Friday 26 November 2021

Oil Crashes More Than $10 as New Covid-19 Variant Roils Markets - Bloomberg

Oil Crashes More Than $10 as New Covid-19 Variant Roils Markets - Bloomberg


PRICES
  • West Texas Intermediate for January fell $10.24, or 13.1%, from Wednesday’s close to settle at $68.15 a barrel in New York. The decline was the largest since April 2020.
    • There was no settlement Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday and all transactions will be booked Friday
  • Brent for January settlement tumbled $9.50 to settle at $72.72 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange

Oil settles down $10/bbl in largest daily drop since April 2020 | Reuters

Oil settles down $10/bbl in largest daily drop since April 2020 | Reuters

Oil prices plunged $10 a barrel on Friday, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as a new variant of the coronavirus spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Oil fell with global equities markets on fears the variant, could dampen economic growth and fuel demand.

The World Health Organization has designated the new variant, which it named Omicron, as "of concern," according to the South African health minister.

The United States, Canada, Britain, Guatemala and European countries are among those to restrict travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected. read more

Brent crude settled down $9.50, or 11.6%, to $72.72 a barrel, a weekly decline of more than 8%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down $10.24 on Friday, or 13.1%, at $68.15 a barrel, declining more than 10.4% on the week in high volume trading after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

OPEC+ monitoring new virus variant, some concerned over outlook - sources | Reuters

OPEC+ monitoring new virus variant, some concerned over outlook - sources | Reuters

OPEC+ is monitoring developments around the new coronavirus variant, sources said on Friday, with some expressing concern that it may worsen the oil market outlook less than a week before a meeting to set policy.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, is already facing a release of oil stocks led by the United States to try to cool prices. Still, a source said Russia, a key OPEC+ member, was not concerned about the virus variant yet.

OPEC+ has resisted U.S. calls to do more to lower oil prices, continuing to unwind last year's record output curbs by adding 400,000 barrels of supply per day every month since August. Next week's meeting will discuss January's output.

Global authorities reacted with alarm to news of the B.1.1.529 variant, with the EU, Britain and India among those announcing stricter border controls. Oil plunged more than 10%, the largest one-day drop since April 2020. read more

Oil plunges $10/bbl on new coronavirus variant concerns | Reuters

Oil plunges $10/bbl on new coronavirus variant concerns | Reuters

Oil prices plunged about $10 a barrel on Friday, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Oil fell with global equities markets on fears the variant could dampen economic growth and fuel demand.

Britain and European countries have restricted travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected, as researchers sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. read more The World Health Organization has designated the new variant as "of concern," according to the South African health minister.

Brent crude fell $9.21, or 11.2%, to $73.02 a barrel by 11:51 a.m. EST (1651 GMT).

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $10.10, or 12.9%, at $68.29 a barrel, after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

Both contracts were heading for their fifth week of losses and their steepest falls in absolute terms since April 2020, when WTI turned negative for the first time.

Oil prices dive to two-month lows, spooked by new COVID variant | Reuters

Oil prices dive to two-month lows, spooked by new COVID variant | Reuters

Oil prices dived more than 5% on Friday, hitting a two-month low as a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Oil fell with global equities markets on fears the variant, which Britain said scientists considered the most significant found to date, could restrict travel and dampen economic growth and fuel demand. read more

Brent crude fell $4.68, or 5.6%, to $77.54 a barrel by 1035 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $5.20, or 6.6%, at $73.19 a barrel, after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

#AbuDhabi's Waha Capital to join MSCI #UAE, global small-cap indexes | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Abu Dhabi's Waha Capital to join MSCI UAE, global small-cap indexes | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Waha Capital will join MSCI UAE and global small-cap indexes from 1 December 2021, including the company's profile among global institutional investors.

MSCI indexes are followed by passive funds and other investment vehicles, including mutual and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and are used as benchmarks for their markets, according to a press release on Thursday.

MSCI has selected Waha Capital for its UAE small-cap, emerging markets small-cap, and ACWI small-cap Indexes.

The CEO of Waha Capital, Ahmed Khalifa Al Mehairi, said: "Importantly, this development is set in the context of increased liquidity and strong performance by the UAE’s capital markets this year, driven by new listings and the country’s well-managed recovery from the global pandemic."

It is noteworthy to mention that during the first nine months of 2021, the company's net profits attributable to the owners of Waha Capital jumped to AED 296.54 million, compared to AED 58.507 million in the year-ago period.

Foreign inflows in #Saudi capital market have reached nearly $36bln, says CMA Chairman | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Foreign inflows in Saudi capital market have reached nearly $36bln, says CMA Chairman | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Foreign inflows in the Saudi capital market since 2019 have reached nearly SR135 billion ($35.98 billion), despite the Kingdom being at an early stage in dealing with external investors, Capital Market Authority Chairman Mohammed ElKuwaiz said.

Opening the market for foreign investment supports diversification of funding sources for listed companies, ElKuwaiz said, during his participation in the second session of the Financial Stability Conference in Riyadh.

The CMA chairman added that Saudi Arabia is working to issue a market-making system to boost the institutional investor's effectiveness in trading, not equity.

The authority does not aim to maximize the institutional investor’s turnover over the individual investor, but the goal is to improve the market’s depth through diversifying trading, he explained.

Turnover of institutional investors, comprising all non-individual investors, doubled, he added.

ElKuwaiz highlighted that a total of six companies out of 10 largest companies in terms of market capitalization are preparing sustainability reports even though they are not obligated to announce them.

#UAE's SHUROOQ considering stock market float in 2022 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

UAE's SHUROOQ considering stock market float in 2022 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority is considering floating one of its companies on the local stock markets in 2022, according to its CEO.

The company, also known as SHUROOQ, has a separate portfolio of real estate, tourism, industrial and transportation projects, with a value exceeding 12 billion dirham ($3.2 billion), of which around 6 billion dirham are real estate projects.

Marwan J. Al-Sarkal made the comments while appearing on a panel at the Sharjah International Travel and Tourism Forum on Wednesday.

Al-Sarkal said that SHUROOQ will witness for the next 10 years establishments and developments for tourism and real estate projects out of Sharjah.

Saudis and #UAE Are Caught in the Middle of the U.S.-China Cold War - Bloomberg ht @Ibishblog

Saudis and UAE Are Caught in the Middle of the U.S.-China Cold War - Bloomberg

Preventing a potential U.S.-China Cold War has emerged as a top foreign policy priority for Gulf Arab countries, especially Washington's key partners: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But, as illustrated by the recent controversy over a secret Chinese port being built in the UAE, balancing relations between the established superpower and the rising one is getting harder for smaller states.

Construction of the Chinese facility, near the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, was halted due to protests from Washington. The UAE insists it was merely a shipping port. Still, it’s understandable that U.S. officials suspect China may be trying to establish a military foothold in the Gulf.

For the Gulf states, fears about being forced to choose between their key strategic partner, the U.S., and their biggest energy customer, China, now rank alongside the threats from Iran and Islamist groups ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda. These anxieties reveal much about the uncertain realities of power in the epicenter of global energy.

Even as U.S. attention has shifted to rivalry with China, the Gulf has remained a big part of the geopolitical conversation. When President Barack Obama was advocating a "pivot to Asia" to combat China's rise, he was implicitly suggesting a shift of resources away from Europe and the Middle East. That aspiration has persisted under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Yet no major drawdown of U.S. military resources in the Gulf has taken place.

Oil prices slide on concern about new COVID variant | Reuters

Oil prices slide on concern about new COVID variant | Reuters

Oil prices recorded their steepest daily fall since July on Friday as a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Oil fell with global equities markets on fears the variant, which Britain said scientists considered the most significant found to date, could restrict travel and dampen economic growth and fuel demand. read more

Brent crude fell $4.07, or 4.9%, to $78.15 a barrel by 0830 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $4.83, or 6.1%, at $73.56 a barrel, after hitting a two-month low during the session. There was no settlement for WTI on Thursday because of the Thanksgiving holiday.