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Dubai market gains for the third day straight
August 2, 2011--Despite negative input from declining markets in East Asia and Western Europe, the Dubai market DFM closed 0.66% higher at 1,536.42 points.
Financial shares, like Emirates NBD (up 2.44% at Dhs4.20) or GGICO (9.22% higher at Dhs0.32) drove the DFM's momentum. Emaar was the most liquid share a recaptured the level at Dhs3. Islamic developer Deyaar declined 1.08% to Dhs0.276). Despite the rising heat in August and the start of the Holy month of Ramadan, trading turnover increased further. Around 93.45m shares were traded, valued at Dhs143.96m. Ten shares gained, nine declined and four ended even.
U. S. debt deal fuels Saudi Stock Exchange's rebound
August 01, 2011--The Tadawul bourse posted the highest advance in the GCC, as the Tasi benchmark surged 1.25% to 6,471.82 points. Sabic shares jumped 2.43%, closing at SR105.25.
The Saudi market benefitted the most from the Washington debt compromise, as KSA's economy enjoys the strongest relations to the U. S. Investors booked profits at a number of insurance firms, such as Amana Insurance (off 1.04% at SR38).
Qatar Exchange finishes slightly higher
August 01, 2011--The QE Index added 0.11%, closing at 8,412.44 points.
Shares of mall and retail property management company Aamal dipped 0.17% and closed at QR18.07. Earlier in the day, Aamal reported a net profit of QR103.3m in comparison to QR98.4m for the same period last year. The company's Earning per Share (EPS) amounted to QR0.21 as of June 30, 2011 versus QR0.20 for the corresponding period in 2010.
Kuwait bourse benefits slightly from U. S. debt deal
August 01, 2011--The Kuwait bourse could not advance to the degree like most other GCC markets in Monday, as the KSE Market Index gained 0.11% to close at 6,037.2 points.
Commercial Bank of Kuwait, known as CBK, surged 2.4%, ending at KD0.850. Telecom provider Zain closed even at KD0.990, although Zain reported yesterday a 17% increase in net profits for the first half of 2011.
Sorouh Real Estate soars as H1 profit jumps sixfold
August 01, 2011--The Abu Dhabi-based ADX General Index ended up 0.69% at 2,637.88 points. Shares of the emirate's second real estate developer Sorouh gained 1.63%, finishing at Dhs1.25.
Earlier in the day, Sorouh reported an interim profit for the first half year of Dhs125.31m, compared to Dhs20.2m in the same period last year. Sorouh's provision for doubtful debts fell to Dhs6.15m form Dhs41m. Shares of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., better known as Taqa (Arab. for energy) surged 3.20% to Dhs1.30. Around 30.6m shares were traded, valued at Dhs58.38m.
Dubai market gains amid rising turnover
August 01, 2011--The DFM General Index shrugged off worries about plummetting trading volumes on the first day of the Holy month of Ramadan and closed 0.58% higher at 1,526.34 points. In fact, trading turnover picked up and stocks surged across the board, with Emaar Properties rising to Dhs2.96 (up 2.78%) as the most liquid share.
Only two banks failed to jump on the bandwagon: bank Emirates NBD (off 4.65% at Dhs4.10) and Dubai Islamic Bank (one percent lower at Dhs2.04). Around 69.23m shares were traded, valued at Dhs97.3m.
Oman's fiscal surplus set to widen in 2011
August 1, 2011--According to figures by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a surge in oil prices is expected to widen Oman's fiscal surplus through 2011 despite a sharp increase in spending following new jobs and pay rises for national civil servants, Emirates 24-7 has reported.
The Sultanate had projected a shortfall of OR850m ($2.2bn) when it announced its record 2011 budget early this year, but it revised up the gap to OR1.85bn ($4.8bn) after Sultan Qaboos approved new jobs and hefty pay rises for Omani government employees in response to demands during unrest in two months ago.
Kuwait: Selected Issues
August 1, 2011--A. Background
1. Fiscal policy is the main macroeconomic policy instrument in GCC countries given
their institutional and macroeconomic frameworks—large state-controlled endowment of natural resources; pegged exchange rate regimes, and relatively open financial accounts.
2. In spite of the relevance of fiscal policy, there is little work on the impact of fiscal policy on economic activity in the GCC. In recent work, Espinoza and Senhadji (2011)
estimated the magnitude of fiscal multipliers in GCC countries and found the multipliers for total government expenditures—i.e., the increase in nonoil GDP in response to an
increase in government expenditure—to be in the range of 0.2–0.3 (short-term multiplier) and 0.4–0.7 (long-term multiplier). They also investigated the impact of different types of
expenditures, and obtained long-term multipliers in the range of 0.6–1.1 for capital expenditure and 0.3–0.7 for current expenditure.
Tadawul bourse shows resilience
July 31, 2011--Saudi Arabia: Despite global worries over the possible U. S. sovereign default, the Tasi benchmark added 0.57% to close at 6,392.13 points.
Sabic shares gained in line with index half a percent, ending at SR102.75. Once again, an insurer topped the charts: United Cooperative Assurance Co. surged 9.92%, finishing at SR28.80. [AMEInfo.com]
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Weekly Market Commentary- July 31, 2011
July 31, 2011-- Economic Data Overview
The August 1 week has two high points: the July employment report on Friday, and the Treasury's quarterly refunding package on Wednesday.
There are a number of major central bank monetary policy announcements on the calendar, although the FOMC meeting is not until the following week so the coming week includes the traditional press blackout period for one week in advance of Committee discussions.
Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release its statement in the overnight hours of Monday-Tuesday. The Bank's policy is currently on hold.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meets in a two-day session on Wednesday and Thursday but is not expected to change the current overnight rate of 0.50% or the level of assets purchased at GBP 200 billion.
The ECB Governing Council will release its decision on Thursday. It is possible there will be another hike to the current refi rate of 1.50%, most probably 25 basis points if the Bank opts to increase the rate.
The Bank of Japan's Policy Board meets on Thursday and Friday. No change is expected in the current highly accommodative policy.
The second quarter earnings season also continues with a large number of releases on the calendar. These will include a number of companies in the insurance industry and from utilities providers.
The report on the employment situation in July is due on Friday and may answer the question as to whether the slowing in economic activity was temporary or will persist as the summer progresses. After two months of quite disappointing numbers, payrolls are expected to show more substantial gains. However, these are still going to be consistent with subpar increases for this stage in a recovery. The unemployment rate probably will not reflect any fundamental improvement.
Labor market data in the days leading up to the employment report will include the ADP National Employment Report for July on Wednesday. The data did a good job signaling the size of the change in payrolls in May, but had a big miss in June. As a result, analysts will be cautious in taking the ADP report at face value.
The Challenger report on layoff intentions in July on Wednesday will probably take a turn higher. A few companies -- among them Goldman-Sachs, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Cisco and Lockheed Martin -- have made some big announcements this month. Government layoffs also continue as state and local authorities are still cutting budgets. However, some of these will be in the form of positions not filled and voluntary retirements, and some will happen over a period of months.
The Monster Worldwide Employment Index for July will be released in the early hours on Thursday morning. The index has made some steady gains for most of the last six months. The reading of 146 in June was the highest since 150 in October 2008, and index levels are moving above those that marked the trough of the recession. There is still a way to go before returning to pre-recession conditions.
Initial claims for the week ended July 30 on Thursday should show that levels remain somewhat elevated, but are starting to move lower. However, recent layoff announcements in some industries suggest that claims levels are going to remain high for some time yet.
The ISM indexes for manufacturing and non-manufacturing for July are due Monday and Wednesday. The performance for some of the regional surveys of factory activity in July sent mixed signals, but on balance it looks like manufacturing is starting to regain its footing. The available data for service sector revenues also suggest that non-manufacturing activity will start to look a bit firmer as the second half of 2011 starts off. Still, there is room for improvement in both sectors.
Factory orders for June on Thursday will...Read more
