Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Abu Dhabi investment firm slashes jobs, more than 50% cut
February 07, 2012--Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, The National Investor (TNI) has made redundant more than 50% of its workforce and is planning more job cuts in a bid to reduce costs in response to tough financial markets, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources.
TNI, which operates in private equity, investment advisory and asset management businesses, had the first round of layoffs last year reducing its workforce to the current level of around 55 people the sources told the news service. "The latest round of redundancies began last week with more expected. Most lay-offs are in investment banking and equities," one source familiar with the matter said.
Source: AME Info
Egypt tweaks five-year bond sale, scraps seven-year
February 07, 2012--The Egyptian finance ministry has said the country’s central bank has sold only half the reopened five-year bonds it offered at an auction on Monday and none of the reopened seven-year bonds, Reuters has reported.
The bank had asked for EGP2bn ($331.5m) of the five-year bonds, but trimmed the sale to EGP1bn. The yields on the bonds ranged from 16.65% to 16.85%, up 16.6% to 16.75% at an auction a week earlier.
Source: AME Info
Banks, real estate firms weigh on Kuwait bourse
February 06, 2012--Kuwait: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) Market Index fell by 0.30% Monday, closing at 5,840.2 points.
Al-Safat Investment Co. posted the largest decline, falling by 7.5%. The banking segment and the developers index lost the most among the sector indexes. However, Real Estate Trade Centers or Marakez gained the most (up 10%). [AMEInfo.com]
Source: AME Info
Industry shares, consumer staples weigh on Abu Dhabi market measure
February 06, 2012--The ADX General Index ended off 0.10% at 2,475 Monday. Real estate bellwether Aldar Properties found out of the valley of tears in recent weeks and gained today 1.04% to reach Dhs0.96.
Sorouh Real Estate, RAK Properties and Dana Gas closed unchanged. Gulf Cement Co. dived 5.90%, finishing at Dhs0.96. Almost 85m shares were traded, valued at Dhs98.5m.
Source: AME Info
Profit booking hits NASDAQ Dubai-listed shares
February 06, 2012--The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1519.59 up 0.15%, from the previous close.
Bellwether Dubai Ports (DP) World was the most liquid stock and fell half a per cent to hit $10.95. Jewelry trader and retailer Damas lost 2.70% and interior design firm Depa Limited plummeted 5.26%. Some 2.175m shares were traded at the NASDAQ Dubai.
Source: AME Info
Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank advance on bullish prospects for domestic financing market
February 06, 2012--The Qatar Exchange (QE) 20 Index ended even at 8,726. 37 points as market heavweight Industries Qatar slipped 0.44%.
The country's largest lender Qatar National Bank and retail giant Doha Bank added 0.40% and 1.40%, respectively. Earlier in the day H.E. Abdulla Bin Saoud al-Thani, Governor Qatar Central Bank said in a speech at the MEED Qatar Projects Conference in Doha: "At the end of 2011, total assets of the country’s commercial banks grew by 22.3% to $190.6bn in 2011 from 2010 while customer deposits increased by more than 18.5% to $100 billion, he said. Meanwhile credit facilities to customers rose by 28.2% to $103.5bn." According to delegates attending the conference, the governor's speech was a vote of confidence in the country's ability to finance more than $100 billion worth of projects to be completed, to realise the 'Qatar 2030 vision'.
Source: AME Info
Banks, real estate firms weigh on Kuwait bourse
February 06, 2012--The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) Market Index fell by 0.30% Monday, closing at 5,840.2 points.
Al-Safat Investment Co. posted the largest decline, falling by 7.5%. The banking segment and the developers index lost the most among the sector indexes. However, Real Estate Trade Centers or Marakez gained the most (up 10%).
Source: AME Info
Saudi Research and Marketing Group shares gain as 2011 net profit soars
February 06, 2012--After more than two weeks of non-stop rising, the Saudi Arabian Tadawul index declined 0.30% Monday, ending at 6,738.91 points. Petrochemicals producer Sabic, the Saudi market indicator, fell by a quarter percent, to close at SR95.25.
Shares of Saudi Research and Marketing Group or SRMG advanced 0.70% to reach SR21.55. Earlier in the day, SRMG said its net profit amounted to SR100.3m compared to SR84.4m for the previous year, representingan increase of 18.8%. The firm named three key reasons for the profit increase: "Firstly, advertising revenue growth by 5.6% over the last year. Secondly, the growth achieved in the education revenues by 39.1% over the last year. Thirdly, the profit increase achieved during the 4th quarter includes capital gains from the sale of the Groups share in Intigral investment, which amounted to 13.5 million riyals."
Source: AME Info
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Weekly Market Commentary
February 5, 2012--Economic Data Overview
The coming week will be dominated by the decisions of some of the world's most important central banks. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia all meet. The tone for global interest rates was set two weeks ago when the Fed Chainman Ben Bernanke stated that it was the committee's desire to keep rates low until the end of 2014.
Limited spending by households as they attempt to pay off debt and lack of credit facilities from banks as they try to strengthen asset ratios means that the emphasis will be on easier credit conditions also this week. The ECB meets on Thursday and while expectations remain that there will be another cut in rates to 0.75% from the current rate at 1.0%, this reduction is not expected to come until the March meeting. Since the liquidity injection in December by the ECB, bond spreads have dropped and liquidity pressures have eased as the bank fought to avert a credit crisis, and the next tender due in the end of February is a further factor that suggests the ECB will hold off on an immediate move to alter interest rates. The Bank of England also meets on Thursday and they are expected to continue quantitative easing by pumping £50 billion of liquidity into the market by asset repurchases. The Reserve Bank of Australia meets on Tuesday and the market is confident of a reduction of 0.25% in rates for 4.0%. This will be interesting to watch as Australia has been leading the global interest rate cycle with rate hikes before any other of the major economies and this week's potentially more dovish tone underpins the persistent requirement of softer rates worldwide. In terms of macro data, investors are looking for a slight moderation in inflation in China on Thursday to about 4% from 4.1% in December.
Source: Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
UAE housing market to sink further, analysts point to oversupply
February 02, 2012--United Arab Emirates: Analysts have said the four-year decline in house prices in the UAE isn't expected to end in 2012, as oversupply and concerns over the health of global economy weigh on the market, Reuters has reported.
Growth in the second largest Arab economy is expected to slow this year to 3.1%, which will not help Dubai's property prices to recover after plunging by two-thirds from their 2008 peak. Prices in the emirate will ultimately ease another 8%, while neighbouring Abu Dhabi, which is now showing signs of pressure, will see housing prices fall by as much as 11% this year. "Macro-economic concerns compounded with an ongoing supply-demand mismatch will further delay the recovery of the UAE property market," said Patrick Rahal, manager at Doha-based investment company The First Investor.
Source: AME Info
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