Oil prices hit multi-month highs on tightening supply | Reuters
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Oil prices rallied to a fresh three-month high on Monday and recorded their steepest monthly gains since January 2022, supported by signs of tightening global supply and rising demand through the rest of this year.
More actively traded October Brent crude futures rose $1.02, or 1.2%, to settle at $85.43 a barrel. The September Brent contract, which expired at settlement on Monday, rose 0.7% to close at $85.56 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rallied $1.22, or 1.5%, to $81.80 a barrel.
Both Brent and WTI hit their highest since late April for a third consecutive session on Monday, after notching their fifth straight weekly gains on Friday.
Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another month to include September. Saudi output fell by 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, while total production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was 840,000 bpd lower, a Reuters survey found on Monday.
Oil set for biggest monthly gains in over a year on tightening supply | Reuters
Oil prices were set to post their biggest monthly gains in more than a year on Monday, on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend voluntary output cuts into September and tighten global supply.
More actively traded October Brent crude futures rose 73 cents, or 0.9%, to $85.14 a barrel by 11:32 a.m. EDT (1532 GMT). The September Brent contract , which will expire at settlement on Monday, was trading 0.6% higher at $85.52 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.1%, to $81.43 a barrel.
Brent and WTI settled on Friday at their highest levels since April, gaining for a fifth straight week. Both are on track to close July with their biggest monthly gains since January 2022.
Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another month to include September. Saudi's output curtailment and production outages in Nigeria lowered output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a Reuters survey found on Monday.
Most Gulf markets rise on corporate earnings, oil; Saudi extends losses | Reuters
Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Monday on back of corporate earnings and rising oil prices, although the Saudi index extended losses as consolidation continued.
Prices of oil - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - were set to post their biggest monthly gains in more than a year, on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend voluntary output cuts into September and tighten global supply.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) gained 0.6%, led by a 2.4% rise in top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU) and a 1.5% increase in utility firm Dubai Electricity And Water Authority (DEWAA.DU).
Last week, Emirates NBD posted a 78% surge in its second-quarter profit to a record 6.2 billion dirhams ($1.69 billion) on higher margins, an improved deposit and loan mix, and substantial recoveries.
In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) was up 0.3%.
The Qatari index (.QSI) edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 2.3% rise in Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), while telecoms firm Ooredoo (ORDS.QA) added 0.5% after reporting a rise in first-half earnings.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.8%, extending losses for a second session after hitting a nine-month high, with Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services (4013.SE) dropping 1.7%.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that a normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel would harm regional peace and stability.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) added 0.2%, Telecom Egypt (ETEL.CA) advancing 3.2%.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is forecast to leave its overnight interest rates unchanged at a policy meeting on Thursday, even after inflation hit a record high in June, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.
Saudi Arabia’s Mining Plan; Israel-Gulf Tensions; Egypt's Dollar (EGP/USD) Hunt - Bloomberg
Fresh from becoming one of the world's most important investors in sports and tourism, Saudi Arabia is now turning its vast piles of cash to the less glamorous, but no less significant, world of metals.
The kingdom has outlined a typically ambitious plan to invest billions in global mining operations as a way to position itself as a hub for the processing and trade in minerals vital for the energy transition. Last week, it made its first foray in this strategy with a $2.6 billion deal to take a stake in Vale's base metals business.
Saudi Arabia says it has more than $1 trillion of mineral resources, including copper, zinc, phosphates, uranium and gold. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, eager to diversify the kingdom's oil-dependent economy, wants to exploit these reserves — but progress domestically has been slow and most of the domestic mining projects are at early stages.
In order to fill the gap between its ambitions and its domestic production, Saudi Arabia has established a new vehicle controlled by its giant sovereign wealth fund and national mining company, known as Maaden, to buy up resources globally and ship to the kingdom for processing.
For the global mining industry, under pressure to find alternatives to Chinese buyers and sources of funding, Saudi Arabia is emerging as a new contender.
And as the question of who controls the commodities needed to decarbonize the world's economies increasingly rises to the top of the agenda for the policymakers in the US and its allies, Prince Mohammed thinks he has the answer.
Doubling Down on Saudi Arabia Stocks Helps EM Fund Manager Beat Peers - Bloomberg
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Saudi Arabia’s stocks offer some of the best buying opportunities in emerging markets, if investors look beyond oil, according to a top-performing fund manager.
The kingdom’s initiatives to reduce its economic reliance on crude will boost the market even as the global backdrop may be challenging, says Fiera Capital’s Dominic Bokor-Ingram, who has doubled his fund’s exposure to Saudi stocks to 20%. His EM fund has beaten 99% of peers this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While the Middle Eastern nation’s stock fortunes have long moved in sync with crude prices, shares of health-care, tech and insurance firms are surging in the Tadawul All Share Index this year. The benchmark itself has rallied 12%, outperforming emerging-market gauges.
“The cultural, economic and social reforms that are happening are almost unprecedented, certainly in my career, and this is leading to huge growth in the non-oil sectors of the Saudi economy,” Bokor-Ingram, who manages $1.1 billion in developing-nation equities, said by phone. Fiera Capital overall has $122 billion under management.
The Fiera Oaks EM Select Fund, formed in 2021, has returned about 29% this year — roughly three times that of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Citigroup Sees Strong Middle East IPO Pipeline Running Into 2024 - Bloomberg
Bankers in the Middle East aren’t getting much of a summer break this year, with a number of initial public offerings slated for the fourth quarter and a strong pipeline already building for 2024, according to Citigroup Inc.
The Wall Street firm has received a number of requests for proposals for offerings as the region continues its run as a hot spot for share sales, Rudy Saadi, head of Middle East and North Africa equity capital markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday.
“We expect to launch a number of IPOs in Dubai and in Saudi Arabia post the summer,” he said, without giving a number of deals. “The pipeline is solid, it’s promising for post the summer and 2024.”
IPOs in the Middle East have fetched $5.1 billion so far this year, exceeding volumes seen during the same period in nine of the last 10 years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Only 2022 was busier, with $14.7 billion raised this time last year, according to the data.
Saudi Arabia's economy grows 1.1% in Q2, boosted by non-oil activities | Reuters
Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.1% in the second quarter, according to government estimates released on Monday, supported by an increase in non-oil activities, although overall growth decelerated sharply from the prior-year period.
The Saudi economy grew 8.7% last year, among the fastest in the G-20, as high oil prices boosted revenue and led to the kingdom's first budget surplus in almost 10 years.
But most growth forecasts for this year have been revised downwards on lower oil prices and the probability of prolonged oil production cuts.
Oil activities declined by 4.2% in the second quarter, year-on-year, weighing on overall growth, although non-oil activities expanded 5.5%, data from the General Authority for Statistics showed.
Real GDP growth in the second quarter of last year stood at 11.2%, buoyed by an increase in oil activities of almost 23%.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week cut its 2023 GDP growth projection for the world's top oil exporter to 1.9% to reflect the impact of prolonged oil production cuts.
Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day for another month to include September to provide additional support to the oil market; on Monday, oil prices were on track to post the biggest monthly gainin more than a year.
Most Gulf markets fall in early trade; Abu Dhabi rises | Reuters
Most major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Monday as consolidation continued following recent gains, although the Abu Dhabi index edged higher in a choppy trade.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.6%, on course to extend losses after a nine-month high, weighed down by a 1.1% drop in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE) and a 2.3% decline in Saudi National Bank (1180.SE).
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that a normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel would harm regional peace and stability.
U.S. President Joe Biden had said on Friday that a deal may be on the way after talks that his national security adviser had with Saudi officials in Jeddah aimed at fixing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) added 0.1%, helped by a 0.7% gain by the biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD).
The Qatari index (.QSI) fell 0.3%, on track to snap a 13-day winning streak, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) losing 1.8% and Commercial Bank (COMB.QA) retreating 0.8%.
Oil prices - a driver for the Gulf's financial markets - edged lower, but were still near three-month highs and were set to post their biggest monthly gains in more than a year on expectations that Saudi Arabia would extend voluntary output cuts into September, tightening global supply.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) eased 0.1%, hit by a 1.3% drop in toll operator Salik Co (SALIK.DU).
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