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Qatar Exchange Index approaches 8,800 points
November 14, 2011--The QE Index added 0.25% to reach 8,764.56 points. Qatar National Bank gained further, closing 0.86% to reach QR152.30.
According to media reports, Qatar Airways is set to announced a major order worth billions of dollar for Airbus planes at teh Dubai Airshow.
Abu Dhabi market stuck in a stutter mode
November 14, 2011--The ADX General Index diped 0.22% to 2,486.83 points. Sharjah-based Dana Gas gained 1.82%, closing at Dhs0.56. National Takaful Co. or Watania closed at Dhs0.32 on its first day of listing.
It is the 10th Takaful Company to be listed on local stock markets in the UAE. The listing successfully completes its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Dhs82.5m which was oversubscribed 7-fold to Dhs620m when it was launched in May this year.
Shuaa shares rise, as investment bank delays Q3 results
November 14, 2011--The DFM General Index declined 0.35% to 1,387.81 points, mainly because European markets performed lower after EU commissioner Mario Monti followed Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister.
Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital rose 0.68% to reach Dhs0.745. Earlier in the day, Shuaa said it will delay publishing results for the third quarter because its new CEO Michael Philipp needs more time to study the figures. Emaar ended flat while Arabtec, the most liquid share, fell 0.72% to Dhs1.38. Some 29.3m shares were traded, valued at Dhs31.9m.
Egypt relaxes Nilex rules and regulations
November 14, 2011, 2:04:12 AM
Egypt: The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has eased the rules and regulations for small and mid-cap investments on the Nile Stock Exchange (Nilex), the region's first stock exchange for small and medium enterprises, the Daily News Egypt has reported.
"We are preparing the market for what's ahead," said Ashraf El Sharkawi, head of EFSA. Companies who wish to be part of the new Nilex trading system for SMEs will not need a minimum capital requirement, with the maximum ceiling set at EGP50m. When it first launched, companies had to have a capital of at least EGP500,000 and a maximum of EGP25m.
Kuwait market underperforms despite rise in oil prices
November 13, 2011--Kuwait: Although US crude oil prices rose to almost $100 per barrel, the KSE Market Index dipped 0.71% to 5,868.5 points.
The northern Gulf state's largest lender in relations to assets and market value National Bank of Kuwait, known as NBK, lost 1.71%, closing at KD1.140. Oil prices rose by 17% during the last four weeks. Kuwait generates 95% of its budget from oil exports. [AMEInfo.com]
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Weekly Market Commentary - November 13, 2011
November 13, 2011--Economic Data Overview
The coming week again focuses on international events to the detriment of U.S. fixed income fundamentals, although there are Fed buys, official appearances and inflation and industrial data during the period.
Key economic data include October retail sales (expected to rise, showing a good start to Q4), PPI and CPI price data (expected to moderate), while manufacturing data that should show growth.
Focus remains on Europe, as in addition to events in Greece, market participants are watching if Italy's 10-year yield can remain below 7% and when Italy's elections will be called, and are looking to see how far France can be dragged into the turmoil as its bond yields rise.
There are a number of regional Fed speakers, but key Board members are absent from the calendar.
Focus early in the euro zone week will once again be on wider political developments in the periphery. The new Greek government formed under Loukas Papademos looked like being given a short honeymoon period by the markets - if Friday's relative stabilisation in the markets is anything to go by. The same applies to the government which is expected to be formed around former European Commissioner Mario Monti.
Worry for euro zone leaders is that attention now starts to shift to France. This had already been in the air Thursday, with a move by Moody's or Standard & Poor's expected any day now to move the country off stable outlook and into Review or Ratings Watch mode.
That said, it is also an important data week next week for the zone, with flash Q3 GDP due for EMU as well as France and Germany on Tuesday. Analysts seem to be expecting a kind of technical bounce back for the core from the impact of the Japan tsunami on supply chains at the start of the year. But recent PMIs have pointed to underlying weakness in the EZ economies and ECB President Mario Draghi's comment at his first press conference that the zone is already maybe in a mild recession is echoing in markets' minds. A flat Q4 is expected and hence a further easing of policy further out by the ECB is also expected.
ECB officials have full speaking agendas next week, with Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann due to speak during the week and ECB President Mario Draghi slated for a keynote address on Friday next week. Chief Economist Juergen Stark is also due to speak on Tuesday. Now that Italian Board Member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi has announced his departure, we should start to hear some names of likely contenders emerge from France, given that this major euro zone country does not have a member of the ECB board at present.
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Undecided Qatari investors leave local bourse flat
November 10, 2011--The QE Index in Doha saved the year-to-date gain of 0.25% it has achieved yesterday but did not advance further on Thursday, despite gains among the top banks.
Qatar National Bank (up half a per cent at QR149.00), Qatar Islamic Bank (gaining a quarter per cent at QR81.70) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (0.36% higher at QR83.50) failed to lift the market sentiment due to low trading volumes. Bellwether share Insustries Qatar dipped 0.15% to QR135.80).
National Bank of Abu Dhabi bucks fickle market sentiment
November 10, 2011--The ADX General Index dipped 0.22% to 2,477.84 points. The sheikhdom's largest lender National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) posted the largest advance, closing 0.95% higher at Dhs0.95.
Pharmaceutical producer Julphar followed with a plus of 0.93%. Losses occured mostly in the real estate sector, with Aldar Properties declining 0.95% to Dhs1.04.
Dubai market DFM hit by Italy woes
November 10, 2011--Despite a rebound at Asian in European markets, the DFM General Index (off 0.53% at 1,382.72) suffered from continuing uncertainty and low trading volumes in the wake of Eid holidays.
Emaar Properties lost 1.48%, closing at Dhs2.92. Investment bank Shuaa Capital bucked the downtrend and surged 2.78% to reach Dhs0.74. Some 35.6m shares were traded, valued at Dhs46.6m.
Ominvest reveals plans to invest in energy sector
November 10, 2011--Oman International Development and Investment Co (Ominvest) has unveiled plans to invest a total of $30m in the energy sector to diversify its investments,
Muscat Daily has reported. The move is aimed at improving returns on investments since the earnings of large investment houses have been affected due to negative returns on their capital market investments this year, the firm said.
