Middle East News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Egypt shares jump 4.6% this week on expectations of a rate cut
January 31, 2019--Expectations that Egypt would cut interest rates and improved performance across emerging markets pushed up the country's stocks 4.6 percent this week, with some analysts expecting the trend to continue in coming weeks.
view more
New Saudi-MSCI index dips; earnings boost Dubai
January 31, 2019--Saudi Arabia's stock market, which introduced the MSCI Tadawul 30 index, fell on Thursday as its bank stocks slid, while Dubai gained sharply lifted by corporate earnings results.
ETFGI reports ETFs and ETPs listed in the Middle East and Africa saw outflows of US$273 million during December 2018
January 31, 2019--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that ETFs and ETPs listed in the Middle East and Africa saw net outflows of US$273 million during December.
Over the month, total assets invested in the Middle East and African ETF and ETP industry decreased 7.75%, from US$31.63 billion at the end of November, to US$29.18 billion, according to ETFGI's December 2018 Middle East and Africa ETF and ETP industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Total Assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed in the Middle East and Africa decreased 7.75% to $29.18 Bn during December.
IMF-Kuwait: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2018 Article IV Mission
January 28, 2019--Higher oil prices in 2017-18 lifted growth and improved fiscal and external balances. The uncertainty about their future though, as demonstrated by the recent drop, underscores the need to reduce Kuwait's dependence on oil and save adequately for future generations.
Successfully tackling these challenges hinges on the emergence of a vibrant private sector that can create jobs for the large number of nationals joining the labor force over the next decade. Ample financial assets, low debt, and a sound banking sector allow Kuwait to undertake the needed reforms from a position of strength and at a measured pace.
Mideast Stocks: Petchems hurt Saudi, Dubai weighed down by property stocks
January 24, 2019--The Saudi stock market dropped on Thursday as weak oil prices pressured its petrochemical firms, while weakness in property stocks such as DAMAC Properties weighed on Dubai stocks.
view more
Announcement Regarding The Approval On Listing Government Debt Instruments Of a Class Already Listed In the Saudi Stock Exchange
January 23, 2019--The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) has issued its resolution approving the listing request of the debt instruments from a class already listed, issued by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia submitted by the Ministry of Finance as per the Listing Rules approved by the Board of the Capital Market Authority pursuant to its Resolution no. (3-123-2017) dated 9/4/1439H, corresponding to 27/12/2017G.
view more
Mideast Stocks: Blue chips lift Dubai, rest of Gulf mixed
January 17, 2019--The Dubai stock market rose in early trading on Thursday, helped by its blue-chip stocks, while other major Middle Eastern markets were mixed after corporate earnings announcements.
In Dubai, the index added 0.4 percent, boosted by its blue chips Emaar Properties and Emirates NBD which rose 1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
GCC Equities Review: Bahrain market flat but trading volumes pick up
January 17, 2019--Although Bahrain's stock market benefited from much healthier levels of activity in 2018-research by KAMCO found it was the only Gulf stock market where the total value traded grew, by 80 percent to $900 million-the country's all-share index only traded within a thin pricing band and edged up by the end of the year by 0.4 percent, according to Eikon data.
view more
Belt and Road REIT could eventually float in UAE or China, says Equitativa chairman
January 17, 2019--The new Belt and Road real estate investment trust (REIT) launched by Dubai-based manager Equitativa and Hong Kong-based investment firm Affluent Partners is targeting an initial asset base of between $200 million-$500 million before taking the vehicle towards a listing on a public market either in the United Arab Emirates or China, Equitativa's chairman, Sylvain Vieujot, has said.
view more
BlueStar Israel Equity Review & Outlook-January 2019
January 17, 2019--Israeli Equities End 2018 Significantly Ahead of Developed International Peers-Isreal Tech Remains Positive and Leads US & Global Tech Benchmarks
Israeli stocks, as defined by the BlueStar Israel Global Index(R) (BIGI(R)), finished the year with a sharp 11.04% drop in December, bringing 2018 YTD performance to -6.01%.
In spite of this turbulence and late-year swoon, Israeli stocks ended 2018 with a substantial 7.35% outperformance above MSCI EAFE's weak 2018 return of -13.36%.
Israeli technology stocks, as defined by The BlueStar Israel Global Technology IndexTM (BIGITech(R)), lost 6.61% in December but remained positive with a return of 0.58% for the 2018 calendar year.
BIGI(R) outperformed the local TA-125 Index by 3.44% in 2018, as the TA-125 has missed out on the performance of some of Israel's top foreign-listed technology companies.
