Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: IMF
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]
Source: AME Info
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
Source: DGCX
UAE central bank says dollar peg 'steady and consistent'
July 30, 2011--The UAE central bank has said the country's policy of pegging the dirham to the US dollar is "steady and consistent" even as US lawmakers remained deadlocked over the country's debt limit, Bloomberg has reported.
Saturday, "No fear on the US dollar, although it is exposed to price fluctuations as it happens with all the major currencies," the apex bank said. "Despite the fact that the central bank foreign reserves are mostly denominated in US dollars, they are invested mostly in non-US assets."
Source: AME Info
DGCX Sets New Daily Volume Record on July 27
July 28, 2011-Exchange Trades 21,980 contracts on July 27, valued at US $ 1.033 billion
Daily Indian Rupee recorded the highest ever volume of 19,596 contracts on July 27, valued at US $886.4 million
Total open interest of 23,489 achieved on July 27, 2011 is the highest ever since inception
Trading on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) surged to a new daily volume high of 21,980 contracts, valued at US $1.033 billion on Wednesday, July 27, 2011. The new record surpasses the previous best of 20,112 contracts set on July 21, 2011.
While, trading activity on DGCX's Indian Rupee/US Dollar futures continues to grow rapidly, with a new daily volume record of 19,596 contracts achieved on July 27, 2011, with a value of US $886.4 million. The previous record was on June 23, 2011 with 15,509 contracts.
DGCX also reached its highest ever daily total open interest of 23,489 on the same day.
Source: DGCX
Qatar's top banks help equity market to stabilise
July 28, 2011--The Doha-based QE Index finished flat at 8,377.00 points. Qatar National Bank added 0.78% to reach QR141.90. The country's second lender Commercial Bank of Qatar gained 1.93%, ending at QR74.00.
Doha Insurance surged 4.38% to reach QR29.80. Weak performing industry shares, however, weighed on the index. Industries Qatar declined 1.22%, finishing at QR138.20. Regarding the Holy month of Ramadan, the QE management announced today that "Trading hours will remain unchanged from 09:30 to 13:15 with a pre-opening session starting at 09:00 and ending at 09:30. Settlement and Delivery-versus-Payment service times will be unchanged as well."
Source: AME Info
Kuwait market falls for the second day straight
July 28, 2011--There was no let-up in selling pressure at the KSE, whose Market Index dipped 0.48% to 6,036 points. Shares of Dar Al-Thuraya Real Estate posted the largest advance, closing 8.6% higher at KD0.063. Munshaat Real Estate,
on the other hand, lost the most (down 9.25% at KD0.0245). Year-to-date, the KSE plummeted 13.22%, the highest loss among GCC equity indices.
Source: AME Info
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