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Dana Gas helps Abu Dhabi bourse to stay afloat
September 5, 2012--The ADX General Index closed 0.15% higher at 2,556.24 Wednesday.
Sharjah-based Dana Gas was the most liquid share by volume, gaining 2.63% to reach Dhs0.39. Market bellwether Etisalat closed even. Seven shares gained, nine declined and seven ended flat.
DGCX Year-To-Date Volumes Up 153%
August volumes up 71% year-on-year, reaching 938,837 contracts
Trading in Currency futures up 179% year-to-date
September 5, 2012--The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange traded 938,837 contracts in August, valued at USD 34.81 billion, registering an increase of 71% compared to the same month last year.
DGCX Year-to-date (YTD) volumes increased by 153% from last year, aggregating to 5,752,486 contracts. This growth was primarily driven by currency futures, trading 5,279,123 contracts - a 179% increase on last year.
DGCX Indian Rupee futures, one of the most actively traded contracts on the exchange, recorded a year-on-year growth of 123% trading 873,740 contracts. Gold futures, the Exchange's flagship product, grew 68% year on year trading 49,219 contracts in August - largely driven by strong retail participation on the back of continued high volatility and following the recent enhancements made to the DGCX Gold Futures contract.
Sabic falls to one-month low
September 4, 2012--The Tadawul All-Share Index extended its four-day losing streak, closing Tuesday's trading session off 0.40% at 7,050.34.
Petrochem giant Sabic dived 1.66% to close at SR89. Market breadth turned deeper into the red as 44 out of 154 traded shares advanced, while 92 declined. Gains in the insurance sector failed to prevent the GCC's largest bourse by market capitalisation to halt the decline.
Muscat Securities Market rises the third day straight
September 4, 2012--The Omani equity gauge MSM 30 added 0.10% to reach 5,533.64 points Tuesday.
The advance was mostly driven by shares of the industrial and construction sector. Shares of Bank Muscat weere the most liquid and slipped 0.20% to OR0.558. The lender's associate group Mangal Keshav Holdings, at which it holds 43%, said Monday it merged with Mangal Keshav Securities, one one of its subsidiaries. Neither Bank Muscat's shareholder structure nor its investments are in any way affected by the the move.
Al Ahli Bank soars ahead of secondary
September 4, 2012--The QE 20 Index added 0.10% to reach 8,469.93 points Tuesday.
Shares of Al Ahli Bank gained 4.5% to hit QR62.50. Earlier in the day, the lender which has an A- rating from Fitch said it will launch a secondary offering on September 30. The bank said in a statement to the bourse that "The number of new shares offered for the Private Subscription on Rights basis is 14,950,000. The share price is QR30 per share (QR10nominal value plus QR20 premium). Qatari Shareholders can subscribe to a number of shares not greater than 20% of their shares as at closure on 27/9/2012. However, Shareholders shall have the right to apply to subscribe in shares exceeding their entitled ratio."
SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia PMI(TM)-PMI signals continued improvement in business conditions
September 3, 2012--Summary
The Saudi British Bank "SABB" has published the results of the headline SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia
Purchasing Managers' Index(PMI(TM)) for August 2012- a monthly report issued by the bank and HSBC. It reflects the economic performance of
Saudi Arabian non-oil producing private sector companies through the monitoring of a number of
variables, including output, orders, prices, stocks and employment.
At 58.3 in August, up fractionally from 58.1 in July, the seasonally adjusted PMI index pointed to another robust improvement in business conditions facing nonoil private sector companies operating in Saudi Arabia. Behind the slight uptick in the headline number was a more marked increase in incoming new business, which anecdotal evidence attributed to a range of factors including greater sales and marketing efforts and improving market conditions. In addition, a number of firms also linked higher intakes of new work to increased construction activity. New work from foreign clients also increased during August, though the rate of growth was at a 21-month low.
Sabic shares weigh on Tadawul All-Share Index
September 3, 2012--Despite a balanced advance-decline ration, the Saudi market measure Tasi fell by another 0.20% to 7,078.53 points.
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, the world's largest petrochemical producer known as Sabic, declined 0.82% to SR90.50. As it occured many times in the last days of trading, an insurer gained the most. Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Company jumped 9.90% to hit SR61.25.
Bahrain Bourse fails to extend rebound
September 3, 2012--Despite some sign of a stabilisation, the Bahrain All-Share Index fell by 0.45% to 1,072.37 points Monday.
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance lost the most, heading down 9.90% to BD0.50. Islamic bank Ithmaar was the only gaining stock (up six percent at $0.175). Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House or GFH ended even at $0.185. Earlier in the day, GFH clearified statements its Acting CEO gave in an interview to Bahrain's Al Belad Newspaper. GFH confrmed in a letter to the Bahrain Bourse that it aims to acquire larger stakes in companies in which GFH is a shareholder. In addition, GFH said it is interested in investing in asset management and real estate firms.
Qatar Exchange adds slightly
September 3, 2012--The QE Index gained 0.10% Monday to reach 8,462.60 points.
Al Meera Consumer Goods Co. declined 0.60% to QR166. Earlier in the day Al Meera announced the that due to the lack of quorum of the Extra Ordinary General Assembly Meetingwill be held after the expiration of 30 days from September 2 2012. The new date will be announced later.
Etisalat on the verge to reach new 2012-high
September 3, 2012--The ADX General Index closed unchanged at 2,556.82 points amid an overall lacklustre trading.
Market bellwether Etisalat added slightly to reach Dhs9.54. The old 2012-high from June 26 lies as Dhs9.56. Developers Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate, which are both in talks to merge, fell by 0.82% and 0.91%, respectively. Only 24.8m shares were traded valued at Dhs59.3m.
