Middle East News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Oman's MSM 30 Index climbs to 7-month high
January 3, 2013--The Omani stock market measure gained the 6th session straight Thursday, closing 0.30% higher at 5,781.85 points, representing the highest level since June 7 2012.
Like during many recent trading days, financials dragged the gauge higher. Bank Muscat surged 0.70% to reach OR0.584. Earlier in the day, the Oman Daily Observer reported that the 3rd Bank Muscat Shopping Festival, which lasted for 5 weeks and ended on Dec. 31, concluded on a high note with the lender's cardholders benefiting from a rewarding shopping experience and 120 winners receiving RO 300 each in five weekly prize draws. In addition, customers who shopped with Bank Muscat cards benefited from up to 85% discount offered by over 500 participating outlets.
Dubai bourse up, up and away
January 3, 2013--After reaching an 8-month high, the DFM General Index gained Thursday another 0.90% to close at 1,681.75 points.
Emaar shares closed at Dhs3.91, or up 1.30%, the highest level since Oct. 28 2010. Despite a record high turnover (407m stocks valued at Dhs360.6m were traded), shares of the DFM, the only Arab bourse listed to the public, closed unchanged at Dhs1.06. Islamic home financing firm Tamweel lost the most, closing off 2.46% at Dhs1.19.
Tadawul bourse follows global uptrend
January 2, 2013--The Tadawul All-Share Index or Tasi gained 1.17% on its second trading day in 2013 (the market was open on Jan. 1) closing at 6,940.31 points.
Sabic advanced 1.39% to hit SR91.50. For the last 3 years, the market bellwether share has been trading in a range between SR87 and SR111.
Kuwait bourse flirts with 6,000 points
January 2, 2013--Rising oil prices and the general global sentiment lifted the KSE Market Index by one percetn, closing at 5,994.02 points.
The price of the "black gold" (DME Oman Crude) advanced 1.32% to $107.50 per barrel Thursday after the U. S. reached a budget and tax hike compromise. Kuwait lenders in particular raised the market index. National Bank of Kuwait or NBK gained 1.04% to reach KD0.970. The country's largest Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House surged 2.46%, closing at KD0.830.
QE Al Rayan Islamic index debut on Jan 7
January 2, 2013--Qatar Exchange (QE) and Al Rayan Investment yesterday announced the launch of the QE Al Rayan Islamic index. The index, the first of its kind in the region, is based on QE listed stocks of minimum free float size and liquidity that are Shariah compliant.
Set to debut on January 7, 2013, the index is intended to support the creation of Shariah-compliant exchange traded fund (ETF) by Al Rayan Investment and has been issued with a fatwa by its Shariah Board.
A weighting scheme for the index has been customised to ensure both tradability and diversification across individual stocks and sectors. Qualifying stocks are ranked according to liquidity adjusted free float market capitalisation and then a tiered-weighting methodology is applied where fixed allocations are assigned to individual sub-segments of the basket.
The index is total return based, meaning the dividends are reinvested in the index and has been calculated back to January 2007.
Egypt's new currency regime welcomed by IMF
January 2, 2013--The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed steps that Egypt has taken to stop a drain on its international reserves which had recently caused Egyptian pound hit record lows, Reuters has reported.
Egypt, which has spent more than $20bn over the past two years to defend the pound, imposed a new currency regime on Saturday that includes regular foreign currency auctions. "We welcome the measures taken by the Central Bank of Egypt to ensure that the country will continue to maintain a level of international reserves that can support its international trade and payments," an IMF spokeswoman said. "IMF staff is in close contact with the authorities and we remain strongly committed to supporting Egypt."
Bahrain Bourse misses positive start into 2013
January 2, 2013--Despite bullish input from abroad, the Bahrain All-Share Index fell 0.17% to 1,063.77 points.
Stock markets worldwides starte with solid gains into the new year after U. S. congress passed a long awaited budget and tax hike compromise. In Manama, shares of Aluminum Bahrain or Alba fell 2.31% to BD0.422. Advances of Islamic bank Al Salam Bank Bahrain (up 9.43%) and Esterad (1.62% higher) failed to lift the market. The Bahrain Bourse was the worst performing GCC market in 2012 when it lost 6%, despite solid gains at the end of December.
Dana Gas gains on gas discoveries in Egypt
December 31, 2012--The ADX General Index closed a quarter percentage point higher at 2,633.21 points.
The gauge is the second best performer in the GCC in 2012 as it gained 9.50% since Jan. 1 (behind Dubai, which added 19.90%). Dana Gas advanced on Monday by 2.27% to reach Dhs0.44. Earlier in the day, Dana Gas said in a statement to the ADX that it has discovered two onshore gas wells located in the Nile Delta Basin. "Initial estimates indicate the two discoveries could increase Dana Gas' commercial reserves by up to 55%", said the Sharjah-based energy firm.
Dubai market top in GCC in 2012
December 31, 2013--The DFM General Index closed the last trading day of the year with a loss of 0.40%, closing at 1,620.53 as the looming fiscal cliff in the U. S. weighed on the sentiment.
However, the year of the dragon was a comeback for the local Dubai bourse as its main gauge gained 19.89% since Jan. 1, the best performance in the GCC. In the MENA region, only the Egyptian EGX30 Index (up 50.21% y-t-d) performed better. In Dubai, Emaar fell from its two-years high to Dhs3.75 on Monday, while Arabtec closed unchanged at Dhs2.24. Shuaa Capital los the most, ending down 6.95% at Dhs0.549. Trading volumes rose 10% compared to Sunday, as some 165m shares were traded, valued at Dhs210.
Kingdom Holding hits 5-year high
December 31, 2012--The Saudi Arabian Tadawul All-Share Index or Tasi slipped 0.34% on the last trading day of 2012, closing at 6,801.22 points.
The gauge ended the year with an annual gain of 5.98%, the third best performance in the GCC behind Abu Dhabi's ADX (9.46%) and the DFM in Dubai (up 19.89%). In Riyadh, shares of The Kingdom Holding surged 3.47% to hit SR20.90, the highest price level since Dec. 2007. Kingdom Holding, whose majority is owned by its founder and multi-billionaire H. H. Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, earned in the 9-month period this year 10% year-on-year. The investment vehicle currently builds the 1.6km tall Kingdom Tower in Jeddah for SR4.6bn. If completed as planned, it will be the world's tallest tower, double as high as Dubai's Burj Khalifa (828m).
