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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
GCC Equities Review: Abu Dhabi ascends despite dramatic Dubai downfall
January 16, 2019--Investing in two stock markets in the same country would not usually be considered a way of diversifying assets, but investors who had stakes in both of the United Arab Emirates' main equities exchanges last year will have noted that that there was little in the way of correlation between them.
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More in the tank: Higher oil prices dent Gulf bond and sukuk issuance in 2018-report
January 13, 2019--A higher average oil price over the course of 2018 meant Gulf governments tapped debt capital markets less frequently throughout the year, a new report has said.
A note from KAMCO Research, a division of Kuwait Asset Management Company, published last week stated that "after three consecutive years of growth and record issuances in 2017", the fixed income market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) paused last year, with primary debt issuance of bonds and sukuk falling by 14.1 percent to $105.9 billion.
Mideast Stocks: Gulf mostly up ahead of results season, Global Telecom plunges in Egypt
January 13, 2019--Most Gulf markets closed in positive territory on Sunday but trading volumes were thin as investors awaited company results reporting that will begin this week.
In Egypt, the index gained 1.2 percent, but Global Telecom Holding plunged 7 percent after announcing earlier on Sunday its plan to convert outstanding shareholder loans of $370.6 million plus accrued interest into equity.
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