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Banks, industry shares force Qatar bourse back
August 03, 2011--The QE Index closed down 0.37% at 8,398.23 points. United Development Company, known as UDC, the builder of the Pearl Qatar, dipped 0.25% at QR20.25. Earlier in the day, UDC announced it has incorporated two fully owned subsidiaries in Cayman Island to act in the field of real estate development and investment.
The capital of each of these subsidiaries is $50,000. Qatar Islamic Bank (off 1.52% at QR77.90) declined the most among the banks. Doha Bank bucked the fickle trend by gaining 1.48% to reach QR55.
Mixed movements at NASDAQ Dubai
August 03, 2011--The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1633.95 today, down 1.26%, from the previous close.
DP World dipped 1.85% to $12.22. Since March 2011, DP World shares have been trading in a range between $12 and $14. Dubai GOld Securities soared 2.2%, finishing at $164.42. The Dubai-based interior designer Depa Ltd. closed flat at $0.51. Around 1.12m securities changed hands at the NASDAQ Dubai.
ADCB gains slightly on soaring net profits
August 03, 2011--The Abu Dhabi-based ADX General Index ended 0.18% higher at 2,650.45 points. Shares of the UAE's third largest lender Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) closed 0.32% higher at Dhs3.10.
Yesterday, ADCB reported that its net profit for the second quarter reach Dhs1.34bn, a 2.5-fold increase compared to the same period in 2010.
Air Arabia dips, as Q2 profit increases insignificantly
August 03, 2011--The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index declined by 0.59% to 1,527.42 points amid plummetting trading volumes.
Emaar shares failed to crack Dhs3 resistance barrier. Emaar were the most liquid shares, declining by 1.33% to close at Dhs2.96. Air Arabia, the budget carrier from Sharjah, closed 0.59% lower at Dhs0.671. Air Arabia announced a net profit for the second quarter of Dhs51m, an increase of 2% compared to Dhs50m in the same period in 2010. Around 53m shares were traded, valued at Dhs81.58m.
Yemen's foreign currency reserves fall by $1.3bn
August 03, 2011--Mohamed Bin Humam, governor of the central bank of Yemen, has said the country's foreign currency reserves have plunged by $1.3bn in the first half of this year as unrest gripped the country, Reuters has reported.
The central bank's foreign reserves fell by around $1.3bn in the first six months of this year and were below $5bn by the end of July, Bin Humam told the news service. "Our current net foreign reserves as of July 30 stand at $4.6bn. We expect the level to improve once we put the political crisis behind us," Humam said.
DGCX volumes crosses 300,000 contracts in July 2011
August 2, 2011--Highest ever monthly volume since inception, with 310,990 contracts traded
Indian Rupee futures cross one million mark in July
Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) achieved another milestone as volumes on the Exchange exceeded 300,000 contracts in July 2011. The exchange saw the highest ever monthly volume trade of 310,990 contracts in July, valued at US $15.05 billion, an increase of 99% from last year.
Increased trading activity throughout July saw average daily volume of 14,809 contracts with an underlying value of US $717 million, up by 99% year-on-year, with the highest ever Average Daily Total Open Interest of 15,303 contracts in July surpassing the previous month’s record of 10,943 contracts.
Year- to-date trading in Indian Rupee futures reached 1,172,852 contracts in July, reflecting a remarkable growth of 1382% over last year.
Kingdom Holding soars on world's tallest tower construction deal
August 02, 2011--Weak performing petrochemical and real estate-related shares forced the Saudi Stock Exchange's Tasi index down to 6,443.16 points (off 0.44%).
One day after global stock markets celebrated the U. S. debt deal, worries about the political instability in the Middle East and a new wave of job cuts in the global banking sector (announced by HSCB, UBS and Credit Suisse,...) weighed on indexes in East and West. In Riyadh, Sabic shares were pushed down by 1.9% to SR104.00. Shares of Kingdom Holding, the investment group of HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, gained 1.91% to close at SR8.00. Earlier in the day, Kingdom Holding announced that its associate company the Jeddah Economic Company signed a contract that initiates the construction of the Jeddah Tower Project with the Saudi Bin Laden Group for SR4.6bn ($1.24bn). The Kingdom Tower is planned to be 1,000 metres high, almost a fifth higher than the size of Dubai's 828m Burj Khalifa. Kingdom Holding added in its statement to the Tadawul bourse: "As well, a shareholders agreement has been signed introducing Bin Laden Group as shareholder in the company with a 16.63% ownership, making the ownership of the Jeddah Economic Company as follows: Kingdom Holding Company 33.35%, Abrar International Holding Co. 33.35%, and Mr. Abdurrahman Sharbatly 16.67%."
Financial stocks lift Qatar bourse
August 02, 2011--The QE Index added 0.20% to reach 8,429.23 points. As in Kuwait, banks and insurers lifted the market index. Shares of Doha Bank added 1.31% to reach QR1.31.
The country's second largest lender Commercial Bank of Kuwait, gained two percent, finishing at QR75.50. On a year-to-date basis, the QE Index lost 2.91%. Qatar, along with the UAE, has not seen any cvil unrest like in other Arab countries.
Kuwait Stock Exchange saves the 6,000 points level
August 02, 2011--The KSE Market Index closed 0.66% higher at 6,074.8 points. Financial shares fuelled the Kuwaiti rebound.
The northern Gulf state's largest bank by assets National Bank of Kuwait, known as NBK, gained 1.85% while Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House (KFH) added 2.27%, finishing at KD0.900.
Etisalat shares rebound as Indian partner Majestic Infracon withdraws petition
August 02, 2011--The ADX General Index closed 0.30% higher at 2,645.81 points. ADX heavyweight Etisalat added half a percent and closed at Dhs10.30. Earlier in the day, Etisalat said in a statement which was published on the ADX website, that its joint venture partner in India, Majestic Infracon has withdrawn its petition against Etisalat before India's Honorable Company Law Board.
In the dropped petition, Majestic Infracon blamed Etisalat of not fulfilling certain obligations. Aldar Properties closed flat at Dhs1.29. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. dived 2.33% to Dhs1.26. Around 27.08m shares were traded, valued at Dhs58.6m.
